A sea of oil and flames
by All that is good51
Summary: The world was flipped upside down due to a serious attack from a terrorist group. Nations from around the world unite in order to stop the threat. Technology was advanced, resulting in the creation of Ship Girls. Let us see how the war unsolved through the eyes of a certain enigmatic yet fearful admiral. Calm, lighthearted at first. Serious later. Pairings undecided. M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

_"I wonder… if a man lost everything dear and precious, then… what is left?"—Uzumaki Naruto._

* * *

><p>The year 2025 is a hard year. Not only for Japan, but for the entire world. In 2013, a group of international terrorist; he might as well call them a nation, threatened the entire country for unconditional surrender. They threatened for the destruction of all the continents, Europe, the Americans, Asia… all of them. They are called the United Armed Forces of World Domination or UAFWD for short. The threat was first received by the boys in the States. Based on reports, the US did not take the threat lightly—they underestimated it.<p>

As a consequence, the US is now left with only 45 states. Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia were wiped off the US map just like that. It's a miracle that neighboring states such as; Kansas, Alabama, the Carolinas and Tennessee aren't really off the map. Needless to say, the US suffered moderate losses. It's a wonder why this terrorist group didn't hit the capital, which is D.C. Some theorized that the destruction of the five states were signs of threat; saying that these terrorists aren't to be taken likely. The attack was done via bombs, which are remotely fired from all across the globe. Neighboring countries were suspected, but none admitted that they are responsible. That caused people to suspect that these terrorist are not just one country, but they are people united from countries all across the globe; with world domination as their objective.

The US understood what must be done and that is to eliminate said threat. Two weeks after the bomb was dropped, America and its allies held a conference meeting regarding the topic at hand. The UAFWD. Japan, Germany, Russia, France, China, Britain… all the major countries are there. Some allied countries attended too, worried for their nation's safety. At that meeting, decisions were made, plans planned and action done. All the countries that are willing to participate in the elimination of the terrorist threat will join together in both objective and vision. And that is to prevent further attacks just like what had happened in the US to other countries.

So, the UAF was formed. UAF stands for United Allied Forces. A silent bite at the terrorist's title. However, the advancement of these countries seemed to be urging the terrorists even further. Per months, countries all over the world were attacked; both directly and indirectly. Bombs, bio-chem attacks, and conspiracies were started. Little by the little, the world began to fall. The UAF done everything they can on getting leads about their counterpart, but every lead leads to holes. Every op they planned benefits them little; all the resources, manpower and effort are rewarded only slightly rewarded.

It came to a theory that the UAFWD has no apparent leader, nor even council. Some even believed that they are the countries' shadows with different views from their government; a group of capable people agreeing to one sole cause and that is world domination. Nations shuddered at the thought that these people lives amongst them; countries are divided, civil war happened and losses from all over the world are great.

But that is not all; then, it happened.

On summer 2014, nuclear bombs were launched. To where? To every single countries there is on earth. The whole thing caused massive and horrid changes. The Great Britain is torn apart, the Mighty Americans are no longer united, the Advanced Japan has secluded themselves, the Wealthy China has gone dark… Nuclear warfare has descended upon earth. But why? Why do this? From where were the missiles launched?

Those questions are still a mystery even until now.

Now, there are still people, the UAF, willing to continue their task of preventing and eliminating the UAFWD. From then, the Ship Girls are born. This project came from a group of international scientists who suggested methods to improve equipments and technology for the UAF. These ship girls are humanoid, android like version of real life battleships from the war. They are designed to have the body of a human, yet the functionality of a ship. They could float on water, fire ship sized armaments…

Upon hearing this, the UAF launched the project immediately; marking is a triple Secret and confidential project. Research of these ship girls were done in secret; along with the production. The names, designs are based on real life naval ships who served in the second Great War. All naval fleet belonging to countries which participated in the war are re-designed into these ship girls. Most of them came from the IJN or Imperial Japanese Navy, seeing that they were the strongest in naval technologies at that time.

Procedures were done, prototypes were made… one might wonder where does all the resources for these ship girls came from. That answer is classified and only the development team holds that knowledge. Years passed and these ship girls came to operational; serving by protecting the seas for the UAF. The UAFWD were not expecting such technologically advanced soldiers—equipment. At the year 2017, the Ship Girls Project was made known to the bases and allied troops from all over the world; intelligences were leaked, but they are altered at the same time.

Rumors became rumors, the further they went the more inaccurate they become. In terms of naval power, the UAF definitely defeats the UAFWD.

That is until recently.

In 2020, allied naval bases from all over the world were turned to rubbles. The cause? UAFWD. But how? The answer is simple; they managed to build their own version of these ship girls. The news was gravening for the allied forces; their arch enemies had come to rival them in terms of power, after all. Drastic measures were taken, mass production of the allied ship girls was done in order to battle the enemy's own naval strength. It took the allied forces three whole years to regain some of the important bases while suffering major losses at the same time.

But, it all came to a surprising conclusion. Not only on land; but the UAFWD is strong at sea too.

The UAF lost hope. For them, it seems that no form of salvation could come. But—

_He_ happened.

* * *

><p>Uzumaki Naruto sighed. Looking out the window, he's gazing over the starry night sky from his office. Aside from the pitch black, star decorated sky; he also got a good view of the sea. The calm sea with small winds, causing waves to appear around the coastline. From the window's slight reflection, he could see a picture of him hanged on the wall behind him. It's him dressed in a white, naval officer uniform, complete with the hat and medals pinned to his uniform; not all of them of course.<p>

On the shelf right beside his wooden desk; a glass display, shows row of medals that he earned in his career. But, he could only care less for those things. Medals are just symbols for him; important but nothing that needs to be overly viewed. He got them through all the effort and hard work he put up. He remembered what time was like when he was just a lieutenant serving as an assistant captain. He could barely command his first fleet; something that is still very fresh unto this day.

Now here he is, over twenty years of age; some might call him young, but he felt like he's been doing this for over fifty years. It probably won't be long until he say things like 'I'm too old for this shit' or like that. He chuckled at the mental thought, thinking how amusing it is. But sadly, he can't spare any more amusement right now. He got papers to check, but sadly, he's not in the right mood. He received word from HQ saying that he'll be moved to another naval base in the Pacific. His current base is located near the coastal lines of Japan, a safe haven of some sort.

Resources are no problem here, since getting raw materials is as easy as it is. The same goes for back-ups, in case of baddies attacks. But to be suddenly transferred to another base in the Pacific… what were the dudes in HQ thinking? Are there movements on UAFWDs in the middle of the sea? He highly doubts that, unless, they have their own armada laying around.

PING

A notification on his receiver went off. Naruto walked over to his desk, where he pressed a small green button from underneath his desk. A blue 3-D transparent screen was projected; the screen shows static before settling in. Naruto stood straight, something that is common when serving in the army. On the screen appears the face of an aged man about in his early sixties; he is dressed in the same manner as Naruto but instead of white and black, he's wearing black and red.

"General." Naruto saluted.

"_At ease admiral."_ The old man on the screen said. To which Naruto did as he was instructed. The man paused for a second before resuming his speech. _"Your transport to the base in the Pacific will be arriving shortly, you will go there via helicopter. The reason why you are transferred is because the base's admiral was dismissed for… court martial."_ Naruto raised an eye at that particular detail. _"More details will be transferred to your terminal. Upon arriving, you are to form a fleet of your own and act as a permanent commanding officer on that base. Supplies and resources will be delivered every three months; so please do be aware of the current resources that the base has, admiral." _

In other words, little to none.

"_That is all, now, any questions?"_ the man from the other end of the screen asked.

"Permission to speak freely?"

"_Granted."_

"…Isn't this… fucked up, for me I mean." the blonde haired admiral said bluntly.

The old man on the other side of the screen let out a hearty laugh. _"Indeed it is Naruto-kun. But it is necessary at the moment. We have reports that the UAFWD has started to expand their territory by taking over naval bases along the pacific. They might also be making their own bases even as we speak."_ Just as he thought… the general from the other end of the screen noticed the change of expression on the admiral's face_. "By seeing you, I guess you suspected it already. Ahem, anyway, all admirals that are stationed near HQ will be transferred to bases further away, either acting as a superior or assistant admirals."_

"What of the threat itself, the UAFWDs?" Naruto asked for clarification.

"_Nothing else except the fact that they are expanding their armada is known."_ A grim look looms over the aged general's face; gone is the hearted and warm expression he had before, alongside the strict and serious atmosphere; replaced with a grim and silent one. _"After what they did to Tokyo… Japan won't be the same ever again." _

The missile strike that was aimed at Japan landed on Tokyo. It's like Nagasaki and Hiroshima all over again. But the difference is that Japan's Prime Minister was attending a national meeting back then… it caused major outrage through Japan, because the Prime Minister himself was dead due to the bombing. Theories stating that the UAFWD might have gathered intelligence on the meeting weeks before the meeting was held were brought up, both from the public and the government. That just brought questions like, 'who leaked the intel' and 'why would they do this?'.

"_That is all, admiral. See to it that you are prepared for your transfer. Oh, one more thing."_ Naruto blinked. _"Please don't treat the girls like you do to the boys over at the navy. I don't want to have reports coming from them stating that they have a 'bastard' for an admiral." _Just like that, the video chat is over, the hologram projection gone.

Instead of contemplating on that last advice, Naruto grinned manically. "Well, that's going to be a hard thing to promise Jii-chan…**Kukukuku**." Dark amused laughter came from his throat, ringing clear in the empty office he's in. "Well…" the grin on his face turned dark. "I better get myself a new set of paint."

If one were to take the naval base from a distance, they would notice the orange painted deck, along with the many ships painted in bright neon orange. The numerous numbers of warehouses are painted in black and dark orange, along with the cranes that towers among the buildings there. The appearance of this naval base is, safe to say, different than the usual ones.

* * *

><p>"So… do you know when our new admiral will arrive?"<p>

"Hmm… he'll be here sometime today."

"It's like… one in the morning, it's still dark."

"That's what the report said, if you want to know more why don't you go and contact HQ yourself."

"Sheesh… no need to be grumpy."

"Hmph."

"H-Hawawawa! Don't fight please, both of you!"

It was a special day on the Northern Eastern Pacific naval base; a base that is literally placed in the middle of the sea, one would call it a small manmade island filled with ships and other naval base required facilities like docks, construction site for ships, med-bay etc. Comparing this base to the neighboring friendly base; this isn't as big as most of them. The previous admiral wasn't… _skilled_ enough to manage his base, let alone his ship girls.

This naval base is currently on standby due to the reason being the admiral's relieved from duty.

Speaking of ship girls… Akatsuki class Destroyer Inazuma could only stand and flail her arms in panic over her bickering comrades. Her small and petite figure could barely be a hindrance for the two much stronger and heavier ship girls. After all, she is just a Destroyer. She can't really stop a Light Cruiser and a Heavy Cruiser from fighting; provided the reasons.

Inazuma is a ship girl; and just like most of the Destroyer class out there, especially the Akatsuki class, she is short in stature. Like her sister ships, she is dressed in a blue and white serafuku along with the matching blue skirt; her hair is colored hazel to which is kept long yet tied to keep them from falling over her back. Her eyes are a beautiful shade of light brown; almost orange. Her face is round and immature; most of the Destroyers are designed to appear childlike.

"Tch…! Talking with'er is always a bother 'nyway…" one of the two girls who were arguing before muttered under her breath.

"Wazzat you one eyed trash talking junk?" it looks like the other girl heard what her fellow ship girl said. "You think I'm deaf? Well sorry for having those bunny like ears like you got!"

"Hey! They're not ears! Why you little…" the sound of foot stomping suggested that the offended is ready to get physical.

"Hmph. Like you scare me."

Inazuma can't take it any longer. "Stop it you two!" she jumped in front of the two girls who are ready to tear each others' clothing apart; and by that mental image, she meant it literally. Spreading her small and short arms; Inazuma stood in the middle of the two opposing girls, her eyes closed and knees visibly shaking. "D-Don't fight, please! It will only make us look back in front of the admiral should he hear about this."

"Tch." Both girls clicked their tongues. The Destroyer is right. Surveillances were installed recently in this base, but that doesn't mean that it's not active. The camera placed on the corner of the office is on, and surely recorded everything; only video, no mics input were installed due to this model being the cheapest. The girl with the so called 'bunny' ears sighed deeply; she brushed her forehead with her sleeve. "Heh, at least I'll know that that person (admiral) will come."

This is Tenryuu. The original Tenryuu class CL in all of her tomboyish glory. Tenryuu is a tall girl with a short purple hair and yellow eyes; though her other one, the left, is covered by a black eye patch. She is dressed boyishly, and it blends in well with her attitude. She wears a white buttoned collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up underneath the black buttoned cardigan that she is wearing. For her lower attire, she wears a short light black, borderline grey, skirt. She also wears a pair of black thighhighs, along with a pair of black shoes when not at sea.

The Light Cruiser is holding up a flippant and smug expression on her face, in hopes of irking the other girl off. The other girl unfortunately did not reply in the manner that Tenryuu wanted her to be. "Heeh? Then what's with asking me about the admiral's ETA, hm? Hm?" a teasing smirk is spread on her face; one that Tenryuu hates.

This is Maya. She is notably tall, but not as tall as Tenryuu. Being a Heavy Cruiser means that she has large boiler tanks—one who is familiar with ship girls anatomy could take a single look at her and know what does it means to have large boiler tanks. Her hair is dark shade of brown; she preferable kept them short just about her shoulder level. She wears a sleeveless blue serafuku with white collar; the color of her ribbon is red so does the threads. Her skirt is white; with a line of red thread circling over it. She wears a hairclip that is difficult to describe; and masts like armaments are protruding from her head.

"S-S-Shut up!" the flushed Light Cruiser stuttered while pointing a threatening finger at Maya. "I-I was just not aware of the time of arrival, okay?!" gritting her teeth, she seethe in irritation over the fact that she'd lost the argument.

Maya's smrik grew wider, she looked away to the side while shrugging both of her shoulders. "Mah, whatever you say." She began walking outside of the office with a satisfied look on her face. It's nice to win in trivial things…

"O-Oi! Don't turn your back on me you smug bastard!"

"Hawawawa! Tenryuu-san, Maya-san, please don't fight!"

The three then began to continue their early morning routine of bickering. Inazuma is trying to keep the two from fighting, while Tenryuu and Maya are glaring lasers at each others' eyes; with Tenryuu being the one easily teased. Normally, behavior like this would not be tolerated in a naval base. Arguing and fighting would be reprimanded strictly as per regulation. If they have time arguing like little kids, then what good would they be in the navy… at least that's how the saying goes.

While the three of them are busy bickering amongst each other; they fail to notice the beeping of intercom from the admiral's desk. This goes on for another session; the three girls are so kept on their verbal scuffle that they failed to notice the sound for the next thirty seconds. "Wait!" finally, Inazuma notices. Tenryuu and Maya stopped, turning their focus on the little Destroyer class. Then the two noticed the beeping sound coming from the intercom. "A message!" the three shouted at the same time; before dashing towards the desk to play the message.

Being the one closest to the desk, Tenryuu pressed the button that is located just underneath the desk's surface. A hologram popped out from the projector installed on the table. The blue hologram screen popped up, revealing a face. The face belongs to a masked individual; no doubt a pilot. The head protection gear and the comms device attached to the gear.

"_Naval base, this is EVA-1 requesting permission to land on deck. Landing ETA in about… ten minutes."_

"Permission granted." Tenryuu replied.

"_Thank you Naval base."_ The screen faded out, leaving nothing but air.

Without further bantering, the three ship girls; kanmusu, rushed out of the office towards the entrance of the main building. They scurried and ran, violating the 'no running' rule that this base originally had. But that has no importance as of now—because the V.I.P has arrived. The girls made quick work of the halls; quickly approaching the door that leads outside of the main building. Inazuma was the first to reach the door due to her being the first out of the two when it comes to speed.

Taking a moment to open the door; she then swings it open only to feel wind and dust hitting her face. Using her hands to shield herself from the wind, she drew skyward to see a transport aircraft landing vertically on the empty space right in front of the main building. The aircraft was a chopper, its rotor spinning; keeping it levitated from the ground. Tenryuu and Maya are forced to cover their eyes too, or eye in Tenryuu's case. From their hindered view; they could see the helicopter's door opening and a rope was released. From there, a figure dressed in white rappel out from the chopper using the rope. The person clad in white landed safely and with ease on the ground; the person raised his hand and gave the pilot a thumb up signaling that he's landed.

The pilot complies by pulling the rope back inside the chopper and closing the door shut; eventually, the chopper distanced itself from the base, leaving for good. The sound of helicopter rotors buzzing is slowly becoming distant; so does the helicopter. All that is left from the helicopter is the person standing with his back faced towards the three girls who are standing in front of the doorway. In an instant, he turned 180 degree to face the girls; finally showing his features.

He is a man standing at a tall stature, easily towering over all the three girls at once. He is also dressed in a white naval officer uniform complete with the accessories; gloves, hat, pins and so the like. His facial feature is something that no one could easily forget. Having an angular jaw, he is also blessed with a pair of azure blue eyes that could easily rival both the blue sky and sea. Though the lights that provide vision for the base are on; the three girls couldn't quite see his face. But they could clearly see his walking form as he began walking towards them.

Throwing out whatever excitement they have, Inazuma, Tenryuu and Maya formed a horizontal line; they stood straight and tall knowing that the person approaching is their newest Commanding Officer. The line arrangement begins with Tenryuu, Maya in the middle and Inazuma as the last. They've arranged themselves according to height; and as it is commonly known, the one at the most left will be the one speaking in case if questions were asked. Which means that Inazuma will be the one doing the talking.

"Attention!" as Inazuma spoke out the command, all three of them salutes the approaching officer. When he reached an appropriate distance, the three ship girls could finally see his face. Each of them has similar thoughts. '_Are those… whiskers?'_ their admiral, who has the face of a foreigner despite being affiliated with the IJN, also has three whiskers like marks on his face. Those are not scars, as they lack the detail for them to become one.

"At ease girls." His voice is gruff, yet not too deep and not too high. He is clearly young; as if looking first glance wasn't enough. In a synchronized timing, all three girls spread their feet apart and fold their arms on their back at the same time. Their eye contact is not kept at any particular detail; only at the image of the dark sea beyond them. Staring at a higher ranking officer would be rude and a high form of punishment could be executed just from that.

The admiral's blue eyes seem calm; he analyzed the aligned girls standing in front of him. He could easily tell which one is which. Which is a Light Cruiser, Heavy Cruiser and Destroyer. His muted silence only seems to have serve as a sign of standby for the girls. Noticing this, he allowed a grin to form on his face. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, your newest CO." then suddenly, that grin of his turned dark, darker than night itself. "Let's get along well, ne? **Kukuku…**"

It took four weeks… four freaking weeks for Inazuma, Tenryuu and Maya to realize that they have gotten an admiral far worse than the one they did before.

* * *

><p>"F-First fleet returning from sortie!"<p>

Inazuma, acting as the fleet's flagship, announced with little stutter. She is not in her best state at the moment; so does Tenryuu and Maya for that matter. The past four weeks with their newest admiral has been literal… hell. It has been quite some time after their last sortie; seeing that they are lacking in a commanding officer for almost a month. So, admiral Uzumaki—Naruto, send them on their first sortie. **Without armaments**. Yup, that is right people. This person, Admiral Uzumaki Naruto, ordered his ship girls to go out on sorties without any armaments. How did he convince them? That, is something that they would not answer even if their life depends on it. Not for pride, not out of fear; but for safety. Did he threaten them with scrapping? Nope. Physically? Not quite. Mentally? Again, not so.

Let's just say that they never knew that paint could be so terrifying.

"You…you…you bastard admiral…" unlike her two comrades, Tenryuu took the floor first. Her face planted on the peerless white floor. She lays on the ground, panting and heaving heavily. This is much, much worse than being sent off to E-5 with full armaments and returning suffering major damage. Returning from E-2 without armaments, having forced to escape from hostile ships, and doing so without receiving any backup since the bastard admiral refuses to plan for even a construction… in short, this is hell. A hell that is worse than midway.

"Haah…haah… you…" Maya did not have any energy to even comment about their admiral's attitude. She lay on the ground next to Tenryuu; but the only differences is that she's laying on her back, not front. Her chest heaves up and down as she pants heavily from the sheer amount of fatigue she's feeling. Her engines are overheating, and never in her life has she felt this overheated before.

From his seat, Naruto completely ignores the three. Instead, he is focusing on something entirely else. "Hehehe… Ayumi-chan, you naughty, naughty girl. Ohoo?! Toyama-kun and Shia-?! I never knew! That two timing jerk!" holding an orange book with the title 'Icha Icha Paradise: The devil's secret'; Commanding Admiral Uzumaki Naruto is doing his daily routine of immersing himself with fine literature. Heathens who call this piece of magnificent art as 'porn' could die and sink in the bottom of the blazing sea for all he cares.

Tenryuu, having enough of the whole thing, groggily stood from her spot and took three steps forward towards the desk. "STOP READING YA' BASTARD ADMIRAL!" the tired CL shouted at the top of her lungs—or whatever organ that she has in order for her to breath. She panted, her face growing red as steam began to seemingly come out from her ears. Not the ones on top of hers, by the way.

Seated in silence; the blonde haired CO simply gave Tenryuu a flat look. "Shut up you chunni, want me to ram my torpedo into yer' mouth?"

Something snapped. Not outside, but inside. Tenryuu shook visibly, from arms to legs. "That's it… This. Is. The. Last. Straw." Her eyes shadowed by her bangs; Tenryuu then stormed out from the room without saying anything. The sound of her footsteps rung loud and clear in the empty naval base.

"T-Tenryuu-san!" Inazuma shouted, making an effort to stop the storming woman. But unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough. Confused and panic, she turned towards her admiral. "Hawawa—what should we do commander?"

"Let her be." Naruto dismissed with a wave of his hand. He pulled out another orange covered book from his drawer; he began opening pages to resume where he was reading before. "She'll be fine after some time." From his tone alone, he's speaking uncaringly. Like someone who is bored out of his wits. With gloved fingers, he turned a page on his book.

"What's with that attitude huh?" apparently, Tenryuu's not the only who is sick and tired of their admiral's attitude. Maya, despite being tired and worn out, glared at her CO without the slightest hint of fear. "You think that because you're our admiral that you can do whatever the heck you want?! You're the worst admiral ever, I'm starting to regret the fact that they pulled the previous admiral out." She walks out from the office, closing the door behind. Loud.

"M-Maya-san…" Inazuma muttered. She gazed at the door, where Maya had gone through.

"Inazuma."

She flinched at hearing her name being called by none other than the admiral himself. She looked down as her shoulder tenses. "H-H-Hai!" she squeaked out.

"Aren't you going to get out too?" Naruto asked. His eyes did not turn from the book he's reading; much less bothering to face her.

Confused, Inazuma grew quiet. She can't answer him. The reason? She… she doesn't know. "E-Eh… No…" she settled in with that answer.

"Oho? And why is that?"

She slowly raised her head to look at her CO. "I-I am sure that admiral has his reason for doing this… I mean, letting us out on sorties without any armaments for four weeks isn't something normal, right? I-I mean that in a good way, I…eh… I…!" she struggled, not knowing what to say anymore. She closed her eyes, prepared for any shouting that her admiral would give at her.

"Hee? Is that so?" he closed his book with a resounding snap. "I see. Then, dismissed. You can dock right away; have a break tomorrow, the same goes for the day after." He said without as much bothering to look at her.

"U-Um…" in her state, Inazuma managed to speak. "What about Tenryuu-san and Maya-san?"

"They will still go on sortie. I'm only allowing you to have a break for tomorrow." He speaks as he arranged some files that are scattered on his desk.

"THAT'S UNFAIR ADMIRAL!"

Stopping whatever it is that he is doing; Naruto slowly turned his head, focusing on the Destroyer in front of him. Inazuma never shouts; much less at him. He saw Inazuma's expression; a mix between being offended and hurt, beyond those eyes, he could see the disappointment bleeding through. "That's unacceptable, admiral! I can't afford to stand here and wait while Tenryuu-san and Maya-san are going out to face enemy ships!"

"What if I tell you that they'll be bringing along their armaments?" he asked.

"Still…!" Inazuma reasoned. "I can't… I can't even think about me staying here while my comrades are out there at the sea; risking their lives." She gave her admiral a strong look. "Even if I have to be punished for not obeying a superior's order, I don't care! This Inazuma will not stay here and rest while her comrades are out there fighting enemy ships!" she declared with pride.

A lengthy moment of silence passed; and still, she gave him that look. Naruto sighed. He gave Inazuma his own look. "Are you sure? You can rest you know? You won't have to come back getting all tired and bruised up."

"I am." Was her steel like reply.

"Then, even if you will be punished, you'll still disobey my orders no matter what?"

"Y-Yes!"

"I see." He said, tone baring no emotion. "Close your eyes Inazuma."

Inazuma did as she was told to. Even if her knees are shaking, even if she is afraid… she will stand strong! She's prepared; for both the pain and pride. But…

"Huh?" she felt a soft, tender like touch on the crown of her head. She opened her eyes wide; wondering. There she saw her admiral smiling; not his usual mischief filled smile, but a warm and gentle one. The one that made her heart beat. The way the light pierced from the window behind him seems to have made him more and more kind.

"Congratulation Inazuma, you passed." He said, smiling.

.

.

.

"Huh? Huh? Hawawawa?!" was her smartest reply.

Retracting his hand from her head, he shushed her. "Don't worry, you'll know soon." He gave her a wink. "Now, go. You need rest. Prepare for sortie for tomorrow. I want you to be in your best condition."

"B-But!"

"No buts." Naruto said finally. "Go now." He ushered her out from the office, before closing the door.

Inazuma stood there dumbstruck, frozen and confused. What… what just happened?

* * *

><p>"Haaah… well, looks like I'll have to this now." Admiral Uzumaki muttered under his breath. He sits on his chair, pressing a small button from underneath his desk. In an instant, a blue hologram projector pops up, showing the face of an old man. <em>"Admiral?"<em> the general acknowledges.

"General, I have a request to be made…"

"_What is it?"_

Naruto's blue eyes turned hard and cold as steel.

"I request the production of certain ship girls…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hahaha! Finally, I'm done! Never expect a Kancolle story from me didn'tcha?**

**So, how is it? This is just the first chappy though. Hope you guys like the situation in the story; it might be complicated, but it'll be interesting no doubt. This story is written for fun and entertainment, maybe knowledge too. Any offense made are not intended and implied; I am merely putting my imagination to use for the sake of the readers.**

**Well, now that that is done… hope ya'll have a good/night!**


	2. Chapter 2

"He's an ass ain't he?"

After what happened minutes ago, Tenryuu wasn't sure if she's in the mood to answer her fellow ship girl's question. Looking out of the window, leaning and seating on her bed inside the room that she shares with her two fellow ship girls, Tenryuu tries to ignore Maya's presence. Said Heavy Cruiser is leaning on the door frame, her head pointed downwards; focusing on the floor as if to find it interesting. Maya stood with arms crossed; her expression flat, yet the hint of irritation and anger are visible on her blue eyes.

Tenryuu did not respond, choosing to be silent. She finds the morning blue sea to be a relaxing and calming view. From the window's reflection, she could see the state of her own face. Silent, irked and tired. But most of all, she is disappointed. Not at the admiral, but at herself. She shouldn't have barged out of the room acting like a child; now how will she look at her CO in the face whenever she'll have assignments? Though that probably won't be a problem… she's definitely suspended anyway.

Maya has similar thoughts. She too is disappointed to let her feelings got the better of her. If only she were to stay and be quiet… but at the same time, she can't let someone act like an absolute ass in front of her; especially if that attitude is directed towards her and her comrades. The brown haired humanoid ship pursed her lips; unconsciously gripping her arms. What will she do now? She had just started operating on this base for about two months; if she were to get transported, what will she say to the other girls later on?

"Ne, Maya…"

A sudden voice and question from Tenryuu brought the Heavy Cruiser off from her thoughts. Her eyes flickered towards the form of Tenryuu's back; which is still facing her way. "Are… are we really useless?" there's so many things wrong with that voice. Not in sentence; but there's no feelings and emotion at all. Tenryuu's voice is dead, seemingly literal. There's no excitement and teasing just like what it holds usually; it is all replaced by dead resolution.

Maya kissed her lips. "No. We're not useless. We're ship girls, that's what." She answered.

Then silence resumed once again, shrouding the place in an uncomfortable atmosphere. Clicking sounds came from the window; it has rained. The rain grew stronger; falling down from heaven even faster. Then thunder makes its vocation, letting the Pacific know that there is a storm approaching. Tenryuu ignores it. But what she can't ignore are the questions building up in her heart. These questions that slowly and steadily changes her willpower into none…

It's as if she is rusting in terms of mentality. She began to question herself from the past few days. What are they in the eyes of the admiral's? Are they nothing more than toys? Weapons? She couldn't really say anything against it; after all, it is true. She is not human. She is a machine, a weapon, created in the form of a human. The only reason why she and her fellow ship sisters could feel is because of the program which is installed into her main software.

But now that she could feel, thinking about such things is… scary.

Imagine, a robot with a heart and mind of a human. What is that if nothing but a failed product? Even if she knew the purpose of her kind being created, she doesn't know the exact reason why. Is it just to battle and prevent any attack from sea? Or something deeper, something much complicated than what it is installed in her? Tenryuu could only think; think and wonder. This is her second month in this base, along with Inazuma and Maya; but…

She has to admit. The second month is way better than the first.

Suddenly, she stood up from her bed and walked out of the door. Maya, of course, notices this and follows after her; walking three steps behind. "Where are you going?" the brown haired ship girl said.

"Apologizing." Tenryuu replied without stopping or looking at Maya. She continues to walk; determination brimming from her one eye.

"Apologizing…?" the girl behind parroted slowly. Her face changes into pure disbelief. "You're going to apologize to that kind of man? He's an asshole! Bastard can't even send us out on sorties properly!" argued the girl. "Tenryuu, if you're sure as hell going to apologize; think first! He'll still send us on sorties without armaments; he'd might as well send us out without our basic equipment!" but her reasoning did not stop. "Think! He's sending us out on suicide missions; do you think he's someone who deserves apology?"

Tenryuu did not consider Maya's warnings; she walked on ahead towards her CO's office. "I still did act brashly in front of an officer; our CO. Protocols installed in database says to obey our CO without any condition. By acting like I did;" a large grin appeared on her face. "I've disobeyed protocols. I need to apologize."

"Tenryuu, we'll die if we keep on following that lunatic's order!"

At that, Tenryuu stopped; causing Maya to do the same. The eye patch wearing kanmusu turned slowly to face her fellow ship girl; showing the ridiculously large grin on her face. "Ufufu, remember, I am Tenryuu. I don't die easily. In fact, they all should be scared of me. I don't care if I was sent without any armaments anymore. I'll prove that bastard that I'm more to than what he thinks of me." Then she resumes her walking, leaving Maya who is the only one remaining in the hallway.

Her disappearing figure raised a hand; then says, "And who says that you need to be sorry to apologize?" after that, her figure completely disappears deeper into the hallway, leaving Maya alone.

The left alone Maya stood frozen; looking at where the other girl had just disappeared from. Slowly, the corner of her lips twitches and stretch, transforming into a smile. She sighed into her palm, shaking her head. "Haaah… that girl…" but never, never that smile disappeared from her face. In fact, it might as well get wider.

* * *

><p>"Hmm… man, the previous guy who was stationed here sure suck as hell… no wonder the old goat sent me here."<p>

Muttering, the blonde admiral grumbled distastefully as he reviewed the mission reports from the base's catalogue. He flicked through the terminal's screen like a person who is bored out of his mind. Low fuel supplies… little to no bauxite… insufficient amount of steel… ammo barely remaining… how did this guy even become an admiral? It's a good thing that he sent his ship girls on for expedition for the first few weeks; or else he'll be forced to feed the girls konyaku and ramen.

From seeing the catalogue, there's no particular data of ship scrapping, which is good. Maybe it's also due to the fact that this guy had been spending out way too many resources instead of getting them. Too much redundancy… things like 'improving ship efficiency' is not going to work if you don't send your girls to get more supplies! You'll lose way more than what you spent due to it. Improved girls needs more material; and more material is something that this base lacks.

Being a proud son of a gun he is; he's not going to go and ask the neighboring bases for supplies. Nope. He's just too much of a man to even be requesting for supplies. The result from the many expeditions he sent his girls to won't last long; provided the need to maintain them. Seeing the girls' status, Tenryuu has been remodeled, along with Maya and Inazuma. No wonder they're able to escape from enemy ships without even sinking… perhaps that is the only thing the previous admiral thought good of; remodeling his ship girls.

Of course, in order to remodel, he needs to get materials. And how did the previous guy get materials? He asked for supplies from HQ. Naruto could see how things went already; in short, HQ was tired of this guy not being able to get his own materials and decided to dismiss him. Then why did the old goat said that the previous guy was dismissed due to court martial? He didn't try to hump on steel did he? For the goodness of things, he is not going to go there.

Okay, now that reviewing history is done, time to check his own history. The admiral tapped a few times on the tablet, a screen pops up and he tapped on the button. Naruto raised his eyebrow in mild surprise when he saw the base's status; now that it has been managed by him. "Heeh? Not bad, not bad me. But I could do better." Proud he may be but an arrogant show off he isn't. He's not just going to go and declare to the whole neighboring bases that he got the most materials than them.

**5 seconds later…**

"Ha ha! Who got the most shit, I do! You better remember that ya noob!" he slammed the telephone down, a grin plastered on his face.

**Moving on…**

Now that he has enough resources, he could construct another ship girl as an addition to his fleet. But the problem… he can't decide on what class to choose. This base has three kinds of classes already. A Heavy Cruiser, Light Cruiser and a Destroyer. What he doesn't have are Battleships, Subs, Carriers, and along with the other important classes out there. But doing construction as of now isn't necessary, not to mention, he _got_ that.

KNOCK

KNOCK

…who is it?

"Come in." Naruto said in response to the knocking on the door. The door opened, and he couldn't hide his surprise. The one who entered is none other than Tenryuu herself. He hide his surprise by shifting in his seat; leaning forward so that he could rest his elbows on the desk's surface while perching his chin on his knuckles. His mouth hidden behind his palms is actually stretched into a small smirk; something that he shows when he feels that something interesting is going to happen.

"Ah, Tenryuu. How may I help you?" he asked, cheerfully just like he always do.

It took the CL a moment before she could answer her CO's question. "I…" she fidgets and begins to constantly switch her attention between the floor and him. It is a definite that she is nervous; even so, nervousness alone won't hinder her. She took a deep breath in; preparing herself. "I am deeply sorry!" she bowed her head deeply to express her sorry.

.

.

.

"Meh, okay. It's not like I'm mad or anything." Shrugged the blonde admiral while glancing away briefly. He sets his eyes back on Tenryuu. He could see the confusion on the ship girl's face; she must be expecting a different reaction from him.

"…Hai? That's it? That's it!?" Tenryuu half shouted half asked, completely incredulous over the fact that someone had just forgiven her so easily. "You're not going to give me a penalty? Banned from sorties? Expeditions?"

Naruto looked at her as if she had grown another set of antenna ears like receiver thing. "No, no. Why would I? You're an important part of my fleet Tenryuu; along with Maya and Inazuma-kun. I don't think that I would do something as unbeneficial such as suspending you from mission duties." He explained before shrugging once more. "Besides, if I want to punish you; I could go and ask you to paint the whole base in orange." He grinned.

The CL suddenly prostates herself. "I am deeply sorry for my actions."

"Hahaha, funny one aren't you?" The blonde haired admiral cleared his throat. "In all seriousness; I have no need to punish you nor did you do something wrong for acting the way you did before." He raised a gloved finger, pointing to the ceiling. "First, you have to remember that I am your superior. If I ask you girls to do something; it will always be for a good cause." He raised a second finger. "Two, there is no way that I will ban my girls from going from duty. In fact, you three can feel free and barge into my office just to ask for expeditions." The third finger. "And third," he smiles. "There's always a part in life where everyone makes mistakes. I am human, I make mistakes. You girls are designed to simulate and replicate human behavior despite having the aspect of military weaponry. Making mistakes are a part of you girls now; think of it of one of your protocols."

"One of my protocols…" muttered the eye patch wearing Light Cruiser.

"Yup, as easy as that." Naruto nodded. "See Tenryuu; you girls being a ship girl means nothing to me. As long as you are willing to accept my flaws and edges, then I am willing to accept you. As long as you respect me, I will respect you even more than you do to me. Remember; we are no winners in this war." He tapped the wooden desk to prove his point. "We are survivors. Servants. We serve the people who we are fighting for in their namesakes. We are willing to dirty ourselves in blood and oil for their happiness, for their wellbeing. But remember that we must not forget to be selfish; even if the slightest bit." He winked. "Do you get that, Light Cruiser Tenryuu class; Tenryuu?"

"H-Hai!"

"Good, good." Naruto nodded in satisfaction with his eyes closed. "Now…" he suddenly yawned, drooping his body over his desk; while his hand made an effort to wave dismissingly at the ship girl who is still entranced by his 'wisdom speech'. "You can dismiss yourself. I'm going to sleep the whole evening out; oh, don't forget to prepare yourself for an assignment tomorrow."

As Tenryuu was about to leave, she remembers one important detail. "Are you finally letting us go with our armaments this time?"

"… I'll consider it."

That night, Tenryuu can't sleep due to the excitement of tomorrow's expedition.

* * *

><p>Tomorrow has come, and it starts with a very loud awakening.<p>

"BASTARD ADMIRAL!"

The usually peaceful, quiet and silent base is shook by the sudden outrage that is Tenryuu's voice. In a particular hallway; the one that leads towards the admiral's office, things like the floor, walls and even ceiling are shaking. The sound of repetitive thumping noise slowly becomes distinct; the louder it becomes, the nearer it is. A flash of white and gold went by; moving agilely and swiftly. The flash was followed by a blur of purple and black, not wanting to lose in terms of speed.

"Nyahaha! Wassamatah Tenryuu? Ya scared?"

"Come back here you bastard!"

So, the day starts with a scene of Tenryuu chasing the admiral from hallways to hallways; with her having no luck in capturing the blasted man. "You little bastard, come back here and stay still!" shouted the irritated and out of hell pissed off ship girl as she runs along the hallway to capture her target. Her face consorting to an expression that shows anger, embarrassment and ire; her arms raised and ready to grab a hold of the man should she come near him. Waking up in the morning has never been so… what's the term… hectic. Yes, hectic. The fact that she was just doing her morning routine the bathroom minutes ago; doesn't mean that she could continue it without having to face the biggest problem.

"No way, you'll do some _scary_ things to me! Hahaha!" the blonde haired CO laughed and ran like a sparrow striking the air; his constant laughing only to serve as a fuel for the Light Cruiser who is hot on his trail. But that's no problem; in fact, it isn't a problem at all. She could chase him all day if he care, but she won't be able to get him. Why? It's simple.

Being a badass is one of his passive skills, along with being ridiculously handsome, smart, wise, cool etcetera, etcetera.

So, running away from a ship girl is as easy as solving an 8x8 Rubik's cube with one hand strapped to the back. Especially while they are on land. The fleeing admiral took a moment to glance back; but he was greatly surprised that Tenryuu had managed to keep up with him after a whole twenty minutes of playing cat and mouse. But see here… he isn't the mouse.

"Think fast!" suddenly stopping, the admiral of the Pacific naval base throws something from within his sleeves. He grinned; thinking on how the girl will respond to the sudden attack.

"W-Whoa!" Tenryuu ducked underneath the incoming items, she looks back to find them to be a tennis ball sized orange paintballs. "Hey! You're going to get my clothes dirty ya bastard!" she the resumes on the comical chase once again; but she's angrier than before.

Still, Naruto is always further ahead of her, not even showing any signs of exhaustion. Tenryuu was incredulous; just how much stamina does this person has? He's not even sweating, unlike her. Their chase began to take twists and turns, with Naruto finding his way skillfully around every corner, planning on completely losing Tenryuu. "Oi! Just slow down will ya!" their path came to a point where they've reached the other side of the base's main building. Beyond them is an opened window, with two intersections that could be a perfect way for the admiral to make the chase his win.

But nooo, he just have to jump out of the window.

"YAHOOOO!" The blonde haired officer cheered out like a stuntman on acid.

Not expecting something like this, Tenryuu did not hold back. "YOU STUPID ASS WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!" her voice is useless since the man is now outside of the building. She rushed over to the window, worried. Looking down, she saw the smiling face of Naruto waving for her attention. Then she saw him tracing on air; slowly, she began to decipher the message. "'Fu…fu…fu… ya… scared?'" a vein snapped on her forehead. "THAT'S IT YOU BLONDE BASTARD, I'LL SINK YOU TO HELL!" she leaned over the window, before jumping down with murderous intent.

But this doesn't scare the admiral who is seemingly standing like a sitting duck. Tenryuu comes, soaring from above; something that a ship girl wouldn't normally do. Then again, the same goes for an admiral. Tenryuu cocked her fist back, planning to give her admiral a piece of her… bridge. The second she was about to hit the man; he disappeared from her sight. She landed, looking back and forth; trying to find where on earth did the admiral went. She felt a pricking sensation on her back; as if her sonar had just bleeped. She ducked to avoid a set of paintballs thrown at her at a terrifying rate. No human could throw ten paintballs as fast as Naruto did.

But it did not stop there; Tenryuu finds herself dodging another incoming volley of paintballs aimed her way. She skillfully dodges them as if they were nothing. But she has to admit, for a human, this guy is fast. Way too fast. "Yaaah!" she ran, charging for the hit; not giving time for the blonde to restock on more paintballs. But Tenryuu did a careless move, she got hit by a ball straight on the head; right on her forehead. The impact was hard, it's enough to stagger her for a second; even if it did not hurt. The impact caused a mess of orange to spread all over her face; pissing her off even more. "You little…"

"What's wrong Tenryuu, ya scared?" the naval officer raised an orange ball on his hand, preparing to throw them. On his face is a grin; way wider and deadlier than his previous ones. He launched one ball directly at Tenryuu, but the shot missed. Tenryuu took this as a chance to advance, yet unfortunately, the girl did not get far seeing that she was forced two incoming attacks simultaneously. Naruto too did not want to lose on performance; it's still a mystery on where does he store those paintball. Yet it is even more mysterious on how could he keep up on close distance combat with CL.

Tenryuu charged forward, in a speed that Naruto did not expect her to have. He's fairly surprised; causing him unable to act in time. Tenryuu reached a distance where she could potentially harm him; but really? Will he let her? The answer is obvious.

No.

"Suck on this!" The CL launched a well aimed knuckle sandwich; aiming for the guy's head. But Naruto was too quick; far too quick. In a fraction of a second, he raised his arms to his head level, taking in the form of a boxer. He ducks underneath Tenryuu's punch, while searching for possible weak spots at the same time. Tenryuu, while skillful in offense, isn't so skillful when it comes to defense. She has her lower parts exposed; legs, abdomen, groin. All three of them could be easily targeted in case if she were to fight on close range during battles. Naruto lands a jab towards the ship girl's right rib, before moving on to kneeing the other side.

"Urk!" Tenryuu was not expecting the two hits. She stumbled back; fazed from the counter attack. In her fazed state, Naruto dives in for the strike. He took two steps forward, leaping closer to the girl. He aimed for a jab right at Tenryuu's left shoulder. The hit connects, but he did not stop there. The follow up is another set of two punch lefties aimed for the girl's torso before finishing with a chokehold. He spins skillfully, grabbing Tenryuu's arm as a lever. Then he sweeps her legs using his own feet; also with a little help of his hands to put more force into the takedown, taking the girl down swiftly.

"GAAK!"

She can feel her body being pulled by gravity. The feeling is almost the same as sinking. She can also see the sky, or is it the admiral's eyes? Yet the impact never came. She could feel a pair of strong hands gripping her at her shoulder and hips; preventing her from coming in contact with the ground. Tenryuu blinked, still shocked at what happened.

"Good job Tenryuu, you passed." She can see him smiling clearly. A nab of foreign feeling pierced her chest, almost like her center hull being breached by a torpedo. Tenryuu pushes the man away from her, helping herself onto her feet.

"W-W-Well of course, I'm the great Tenryuu-sama after all." She said bashfully. "Wait, what do you mean I pass?" she asked, her one eye blinking.

The admiral grinned, somehow making him slightly intimidating. "Today's surprise training. But I'm doing it my way." He then gestured by a nudge of his neck to look at the other side of the dock. Tenryuu follows his silent command; she couldn't contain her surprise. Both Inazuma and Maya are laying on the ground, panting and twitching. "Those two were done earlier than you. Consider yourself lucky." His smirk transformed into a flat line. "Anyways, I'm giving you girls time to dock before you girls could go for your expedition."

Without saying anything else, he walked off back into the building while stretching his limbs. Tenryuu could only dumbly stare at her superior as if she's seeing an entirely different species of life form. "T-This guy…" she muttered in half fear and half wonder. She never knew admiral who acts like Admiral Uzumaki; she doubt that there are others like that who came close to him in terms of attitude and skills. He's damn good in combat too it seems; but she still has yet to see his skills in naval strategies.

She really needs to dock. But before that…

"Oi you two, you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes." Both fallen ship girls answered at the same time.

"That guy's a freak." All three answer as one.

* * *

><p><strong>Ship girls are docking…<strong>

* * *

><p>"Puaah! It feels fresh after hitting the docks." Tenryuu sighed in comfort as she walks out of the docking area, or in human terms; bath. It took her way longer to dock, and that is just from her chasing the admiral around and facing him in hand to hand combat. Come on, it can't be possible to think that he is just a normal guy after making her dock for about two hours, right? In any case, she and her fellow comrades need to report in for duty.<p>

"Nggh…" Maya winced as she stretches her sore muscles by twisting her arms back and forth. "You can say that again… never expected the guy being able to fight like that. Then thinking again, we aren't supposed to fight on land; so why is he making us fight him?" rubbing her neck and face with her towel, her voice came out muffled. "Not that I have any problem with it though…"

"Hawawa… I-I may not know the cause but, I am sure that the admiral is doing it for good cause." Inazuma said softly. Unlike the others; who are still half dressed (Tenryuu) or drying herself (Maya), she is all prepped up to take assignments. All that's left for her is to choose her armaments; should they have the okay on using them. She smiled. "The admiral is a nice person, after all." Then she noticed that both Tenryuu and Maya are staring at her weird. "H-Hawawa! W-What's wrong?...!" the Destroyer class ship girl's face flushed a pretty pink color due to the attention she receives from her fellow ship girls.

Tenryuu, who drapes her towel over her shoulder, narrowed a single eye and focuses it toward Inazuma. "Hey… you seem to know the guy well, what did he do to you?" she asked, half concerned and serious.

Not expecting such question from Tenryuu, Inazuma flails her arms upwards due to not knowing how to respond. "N-N-Nothing! Hawawawa!" the girl panicked, causing the redness on her face to become thicker in terms of shade. Maya saw this and snorts. "P-Please, you have to believe me Maya-san, Tenryuu-san!"

The purple haired CL grinned; placing her palm on top of the Destroyer's head, ruffling her hair messy. "Heh, no worries about that kiddo. We're just teasing ya." She retracts her hand from Inazuma's head. "Well, we need to get to the guy's office now; we have assignments to do." Tenryuu said.

After a while, the three finally heads of to the briefing room or also known as their admiral's office. They make short work of the hallways; even if the office is literally like at the other side of the base. Inazuma took the courtesy to open the office's door, where they are all greeted by the sight of their admiral sitting with his chin perched on top of his knuckles. They get into line, with Tenryuu starting at the most left followed by Maya then Inazuma.

"First fleet reporting for duty!" All three salutes their superior as per Tenryuu's request.

"Ah, it's about time. You girls won't be going for sorties today;" Naruto said. This surprises the three but they are not dumb to not notice the seriousness of the situation in his tone. "You girls will be out on an patrol." He pressed the button underneath the desk. The hologram is projected, showing a 2-D view of the world map. The map zooms in to their coordinates; somewhere in the Pacific. "Satellites reading have detected foreign fleet incoming our way; there are a lot of them and these are not one of us." He stated. On the map screen, red dots are seen bleeping and approaching their base.

This information caused all three ship girls to tense. From their time staying here, never, never, ever was there an attack. Hell even the previous admiral had never really sent them out on any real sorties. And now that they are finally going to get their first assignment; this happens. Naruto noticed the grim expression on the girls' faces; he himself can't help but do the same. "I know that this is sudden; but I need you girls to do your best. I sent you girls out there in previous assignments without armaments for one reason, and that is to teach you girls how to retreat. If you girls can't fight them, retreat. I'll activate the defense system and call for back up from neighboring bases as soon as I can."

"Hai!"

"Now go! Prevent them from entering our perimeters." Naruto ordered.

Tenryuu, Maya and Inazuma rushed out of the room in order to prep themselves with their gears. Naruto is left alone inside; sitting quietly. "Kukuku…" a dark chuckle emanated from the bottom of his throat. "I just can't wait to see the reaction on their faces…"

He spins his chair so that he could take a look outside of his window. The view of the morning sun, the sparkling blue sea and the infinite blue sky greets him like any other day. For a fraction of a second that view flickered into something disturbing. Explosions, fire, smokes, black water, sirens, gunshots… it's all fresh, as if it had just happen yesterday. He closed his blue eyes, easing his mind slowly. He don't have time to remember about the past; he can't and he won't. But his past lingers around him far closer than what he originally thought.

Pinching the bridge end of his nose, he muttered, "I need a drink…"

**Later, with the Fleet…**

"Ne, Tenryuu…" as they set sail for danger, Maya strikes up a conversation. "Are you… scared?" she asked softly, her eyes gazing over the horizon.

"I swear bitch, if this is a way of you pissing me off…"

"No, no you retard." Maya interrupts with a vein pulsing on her forehead. "I'm serious here… we could sink you know." Inazuma who is taking the rear postion of the formation knew that well too. She's… she's not eager in having to fight in the first place; yet if circumstances are given, she will try her best.

"…Nah, I ain't scared… well, not that much at least."

"Hmm, thought so."

As the group of three sails along the sea, Tenryuu's sonar picked something off. "Detecting foreign signature!" She then switched to the intercom on her ear. "What's your order, command?"

"_Hold your fire. Investigate first and make sure that they are hostile; should you be forced to fight, try not to sink them. Bring them in for interrogation."_ Was the admiral's reply from the other end of the line.

"Roger that!" all three ship girls chorused at the same time. Inazuma, Tenryuu and Maya charged on straight ahead, changing to V formation. The girls went full sail; their objective is to determine whether the incoming fleet is a friendly or not. Over the distance, they could already see multiple silhouettes moving in towards them. As they press forward, the Pacific base fleet can now see the other party. They're outnumbered, three to six.

What stood before them are large vessels. Six vessels coming in at a speed of at least twice of theirs; their huge metallic and particular structure is enough to tell which class they're from. "Three ships inbound! Foreign vessels stop; you are intruding in a naval base territory! Stop your ships or we will shoot!" Tenryuu shouted with her cannons loaded. Maya and Inazuma took their position behind; acting as support even though Maya is ready to fire with or without Tenryuu's order.

The communication must have already stabilized, yet they have not receive any form of reply from the incoming vessels. Clicking her tongue; Tenryuu growled in irritation. "Command, they aren't answering! What are your orders?" she really, really do not want fight those vessels. It will be plain suicide. Maya and her might be able to deal a good damage; but she's not so sure on the Destroyer they have with them. She switched the frequency of her intercom to base; in hopes of receiving new orders from their admiral.

"_Girls… it's time to put your training to use."_ Came the small, buzzed reply from the other side of the intercom_. "GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE THIS INSTANT!"_ roared the commander's voice, commanding his unit to return to base. Back in the base; Naruto is grinning like a mad fool.

"Shit…" Tenryuu cursed as soon as she cut off the coms. "Guy's, we're retreating. This is a damn suicide mission… let's go!"

"T-Tenryuu-san, they have Destroyer class fleets inbound too!" true to the Destroyer's words; smaller ships are inbound for their flank. Three of them coming in fast and steadily approaching; getting closer and closer.

"One of those vessels is a Heavy Cruiser! Tenryuu, let's go, we'll sink if we don't hurry!" Maya screamed in alarm. Even if there's no shooting happening at the moment, the number of incoming fleet is as intimidating as it is. "Fuck this, I'm shooting!" Maya readied her cannons. "Inazuma, drag Tenryuu out of here; I'll go and get their attention!"

"M-Maya-san, we can't!—"

"I don't care!"

**PAAAAFOOOOOOOOONG!**

After the shout, the sound of cannons being fired exploded throughout the area. The sound is loud, almost like a warning; yet everyone knows that it isn't one. It's a sign. The 20.3cm bullet fired by Maya went soaring and spinning for one of the ship; unfortunately, the ship's hull armor is too strong for it to be pierced. Maya didn't manage to land a solid hit; her bullet went tilting by a few centimeters, missing the fuel storage located inside the ship.

"Maya you bitch! It's not clear whether they're friendly or not; YOU DON'T FIRE WHEN YOU HAVEN'T GOT THE ORDER!" Roared the one eyed CL. She too is busy on thinking whether they should escape or not; looks like days of being out from combat had caused them to be like this. "Screw it! Inazuma, let's go!" Tenryuu change courses and head south to return to base.

"C-Come on Maya-san, let's go!" The brown haired Destroyer called out to the Heavy Cruiser who had just fired her first shot. She instinctively step back when Maya fired off another round off her 20.3cm cannon towards the foreign unidentified ships; this time a different one. Explosions began to erupt from the vessel; soon they too begin to aim their cannons towards Maya.

"You go Inazuma! I'll go and hold them from here!"

"Maya-san!"

Inazuma's warning falls on deaf ears; Maya speeds up away to get better maneuver over the battle. She aimed cannons as soon as she's finished reloading them. She adjusts her arms; aiming her cannons towards the nearest target she could find. Off goes the cannons, shooting and blazing; releasing ear piercing gunshot, ringing as far as the distance goes.

"_**Hold your fire! Hold your fire!"**_ their commander's voice from the other side of the radio boomed; fury and anger leaking from the shout. _"Maya! I did not order you to shoot; I told you to retreat! They could be friendly for all we know! Now hold your fire or I'll go there myself and force you to do it!" _

Maya gritted her teeth; not in shame, but in irritation. She lowered her armaments; unloading the ammos that she loaded earlier into them. "Tenryuu, try to establish contact once again; I want you to do it." The intercom buzzed.

The eye patch wearing CL gulped down hard. "Foreign vessels! We ask again; identify yourself or we will sink you!" hah, as if… is what she thought at the back of her mind. Suddenly, things got uncomfortably quiet. The three Destroyer class ships that are headed their way suddenly change course; returning to their fleet to regroup, it seems like. Tenryuu did not like this one bit. 'What the hell is this…' true to her thoughts, something like this is definitely fishy… pun not intended.

Inazuma is somewhat relieved knowing that the commander is not ordering any of them to fire; even if Maya did fire first. Still, there's no telling on how things will go from here. Only two things could become of this. One, the ships will return fire; forcing them to resort to combat too. Or two, coms are established they would hopefully forgive the earlier thing, Maya's reckless behavior. Inazuma hopes that the second one would happen. She hopes on whatever luck she has in store; the second one!

.

.

.

"_Command vessel to ship girls; try not to damage us good, a'ight?" _a voice replies to the order that Tenryuu gave earlier. "_Damn, girls; ya' really got us good. 'specially that feisty one o'er there."_ It's no doubt that whoever's on the other side of the radio is referring to Maya who becomes red on the face due to the command. _"Anyway, we're transport ships sent out to dock on this base. We try'ta use our radio but things' broken from the looks of it… anyway, we managed to fix it good. In fact, it may'be 'cause of the shots that that she-wolf fired 'there."_

Tenryuu sighed in relief. "Permission to dock granted. We will escort you back." She turned to her fellow comrades. "Come on! Orders been made by the bastard, we'll be escorting these ships to base in one piece."

"Wilco!"

And so, began the journey back home.

* * *

><p><strong>At Pacific naval base…<strong>

* * *

><p>"Yooooouuuu biiiitch!"<p>

"GAH!"

Tenryuu grabs a hold of Maya's collar, lifting her up to her eye level. "What the heck were ya' doing back then, huh? You fired without orders, that's violation!" she asked heatedly. Sparks seem to have clashed between the Heavy Cruiser and the Light Cruiser.

"S-Shuddup! I haven't done anything wrong; it was that bastard admiral's fault for not giving a clear order!" Maya countered in hopes of defending herself. She then pushes Tenryuu away from her, getting defensive. "Besides! The ships are not damaged aren't they? It's not like anyone's in danger." She crossed her arms, looking away with eyes closed.

"H-Hawawawa! P-Please don't fight you two!" Inazuma is definitely unable to do anything at the moment.

"You're right, no one got hurt. But that doesn't mean that you should disobey my orders." All three ship girls' attention are drawn to another person's. They all turned sideways to see their CO approaching them; his uniform still neat and the only difference is that he has a sabre strapped to his right hip. The girls could see the serious look in his blue eyes; and it looks like it's no time for jokes now.

Behind them are the ships that they encountered earlier, they are docking for the minor damage that Maya had done to some of them earlier. It was actually a good thing that none of them got sink; or else things could get way complicated from here. Tenryuu straightened her back, saluting the approaching officer. "Attention!" the remaining two followed in suite.

Naruto stopped, standing and observing the three of them at the same time. His steel azure eyes scan them like hawks, providing a good amount of intimidation as well. He then crossed his arms; not losing the serious expression on his face. "At ease." All three complies. "You girls did a good job on escorting those ships back here; but not so much when encountering them." He sighed, relaxing the firm and hard expression on his face for a little bit. "I suppose it is also my fault for not providing better intel; but it is a necessity to not lose your head while you're out there." He points a gloved finger over the vast ocean beyond them.

"Tenryuu." Said ship girl tensed at hearing her name being called. "You did well for being the flagship. Though I expected better of you."

"Inazuma." She too makes the same reaction like Tenryuu when hearing her name being called. "You lack confidence. Show me your serious side; be tough when you are out there. But you did a good job on providing team morale."

"And Maya…" as if she could feel his cold, piercing stare; the Heavy Cruiser flinched. "I am disappointed at you. You fail to follow the simplest of commands out there; when you're told to hold your fire, you. damn. well. do. it." She flinched at every word he uttered. "Follow your flagship's instruction; if those weren't allied ships out there you'll be putting everyone at risk. You'll be there, knowing that they sink because of you."

Harsh he may be, but cold hearted he is not.

"But, in any case, you three had done well for today. Come to my office; you will be surprised for what I have for you there." He then dismissed himself, walking towards the other direction.

The warm southern wind blew past them, waves breaking and the seagulls cawking. All three blinked at the mention of a surprise; it's Inazuma who decided to speak out their thoughts. "Surprise…?" she muttered just enough for the two to hear. She looked around, facing Maya and Tenryuu respectively.

The CL shook her head. "I don't know… knowing him, it'll probably be a can of paint waiting to explode in front of our face…" she uttered dryly, to which her fellow ship girls agree. "But… can't hurt to check it, right?" eventually, all three came to an agreement of deciding to check what's this so called 'surprise' is.

The three slightly tired ship girls walked towards the admiral's office; walking through the main hallways and other hallways in the main building. Since there are only the three of them stationed here; they used the guest rooms in the main building for their bedrooms. All three of them are sharing the room, there's really no reason to occupy most of the rooms here. So their walk to the office has come to an end, all three are invaded with a sense of nervousness and alarm. There's no telling what will happen from here and on.

Things could fall from the ceiling, maybe a small explosion of paint bombs, maybe even itching powder… who knows?

With sweaty hands, Tenryuu opened the door.

"Waaah! It's Inazuma-chan!"

"Aah~ it's Tenryuu-chan."

"Oh! It's really is you, nee-san."

Three thumping noise could be heard, followed by Inazuma's silent scream of surprise. Tenryuu's sword fell to the ground, emitting a resound clanking noise. Maya's jaw opens, agape with her eyes wide as saucers.

Three short stature, girls dressed in similar uniform as Inazuma is wearing; glomps the Destroyer all at once. One of them has a long black hair, the other one has a short brown hair and the final one has an uncommon color of white. One could call it whatever they want; surprise, shock, incredulous… if it's necessary to say, Tenryuu, Maya and Inazuma are currently greeted by the sight of their sister ship; ships in Inazuma's case.

**With Naruto…**

"Huh… never knew it'll be so easy to convince HQ on transferring those girls here…" he slumps over the railing on the dock; his head bowed low. It's still morning; the sun is still rising. He knew that the transport ship will be arriving of course; after all, the newly 'transferred' girls got here by them. Of course, on a side note, he also requested for more materials; mostly ammo though. He got an idea that is of greater importance on the future.

The whole thing today was a faux. A… pooper. It's just nice, once in a while but hopefully more to come in the near future, to see those girls getting in trouble and getting rewarded in the end. Maybe it's his S switch flipping up or it's just him being him.

.

.

.

It's definitely his S switch flipping up.

He requested HQ to deliver three Akatsuki class Destroyer, Light Cruiser of the Tenryuu class Tatsuta and Heavy Cruiser from the Takao class; Choukai. Of course, they denied him straight away. But since he got something… necessary… in his hands, he could blackma—convince the fellows at HQ to transfer the ship girls here. He could send them out on sorties right now; maybe patrolling further waters or maybe invading enemy bases.

But now… it won't hurt to let those girls have fun for a moment. Leaning over the railing, the blonde haired admiral gazed upon the vast sea and sky; his twin azure orbs not losing in terms of color. He really, really is lucky to be tasked on becoming a naval officer. He get to enjoy the calm sea, enjoy the view, have his own office… but he can't help but miss those old days. Those days that will never, ever disappear and be forgotten from his memories.

Even now; every time he closes his eyes… he could still see them. Explosions, flames, people killing each other… and that was not at sea. If there's one thing he's glad about becoming an admiral is that; he won't have to fear the thought of touching land again. Unlike the sea, you can still swim to shore if you fall from the deck. While on land… you can only run; run to add a few more seconds to that short life of yours… better at sea than on land, he says.

But most of all; out of all the things out there… he feared the people. The names of the people that he had killed back in the day. Both on sea and on land. He grips the railings tight; almost as if he's clinging for something important. The names are still in his head; he could list them one by one if he wants to. Being sent to the frontline is like going to school; except he might or might not return. Well, that is all in the past. There is no use wallowing in the past.

"…Isn't it…?" he looked skyward, up towards the sun. The corner of his lips stretched; forming a beautiful yet bittersweet smile.

"Hinata?"

Oh how painful it is for him to say that name.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Wooooooaaaaah! I can't believe that I decided to continue this; so soon, moreover! I don't know whether you guys are really into this or not but, I'm having fun writing this. You could say that I'm taking a break on writing Touhou fics… been doing that all the time that it eventually gets into me, rusting. But don't worry, my flames of passion for Touhou is still burning.**

**On a side note… I'm announcing that this story, will have its twists and turns. Ya'll be surprised. **

**Well, anyway, that's it for this time. Hope ya'll have a good day/night!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Uh… what, is this?"

"Kukuku… whaddya think, awesome isn't it?"

Maya has no idea on what she's seeing. Firstly, her knowledge about things that is unrelated about military or naval tactics is only limited. As in she could only refer to the data installed by her programmer. And she is currently searching into her database now; and nothing, not a single thing is there to tell her what the hell this thing is. But she knows one thing; this guy is really an orange fanatic.

Before her, spread on the table, are uniforms. They are clothes. And they come in only one color; orange. There is the under clothes, a buttoned up collared long sleeved shirt. There is also a jacket, more like a coat if one would. The midriff part of the coat is colored in dark red, it circles all the way to the back. The shoulder area is padded with extra fabric; probably to make it look more stylish. On the front part, there are breast pockets stitched into the fabric to allow inventory. As for the pants, it's a mix between orange and red. The main color is orange but it is decorated with red stitching that is visible due to it contrasting the light color of orange.

"No, seriously, what the hell are these?" Maya asked again.

Naruto puffed out his chest; his nostrils flaring with pride. "I blackmail—I mean convinced HQ to send us new uniforms! Of course, these are meant for you girls who've gotten their remodeling. And since you, Tenryuu and Inazuma-kun are the first one who's gotten their remodel; I'm giving you three the honor of wearing this as your uniform." Naruto said. "Oh, you can refashion them if you want to. Just make sure that it looks cool." He gave her a thumbs up.

Maya waved a hand in front of her face. "That's not the point here. And… I'm pretty sure you're going to say blackmail there…"

"Ahaha! What're you talking about?"

"Haah…" the brown haired Heavy Cruiser sighed. "Anyway… have you confirmed this with the others? Why talk to me first?" she asked. Well, something like this is a matter that requires others too. She wonders why he's only talking to her about this…

"Well, I've thought about talking to Tenryuu and Inazuma along with the others too. But…" his eyes gleamed. "I want to talk to you first; can't I?"

It's like a homerun struck directly into Maya's engine. Her face went beet red; she looked away with arms crossed. "W-W-W-W-What're you saying! Of course it's fine; b-but… isn't it better to let the other know too?" she fiddles with her pointer, her voice coming out soft.

Naruto grinned. "Guess you're right. So…" he cupped his hand to his mouth, his eyes gleaming with secret intention. "Whoever it is that is hiding behind the door right now; come out~ or else you'll be stuck with _decoration_ duty for the next three months!~" his… 'threat' worked wondrously. Four figure dropped into the room simultaneously; each of them having the same height.

"N-No! please, not decoration duty!"

"A-A lady like me isn't fit for something menial as that!"

"Ooh! Decoration duty? Wazzat!?"

"…Hm. You're strict."

Lo and behold! The 6th Desdiv in their bright and littlest glory. Inazuma, Akatsuki, Ikazuchi and Hibiki are quick on their feet; and hearing the threat made by the admiral before, they swarmed the blonde haired officer in an instant. Maya smelled something fishy… and it comes from the blonde bastard himself.

"Lolicon."

"Oi! What's with that dangerous accusation?!" Naruto shouted. "But still… I can't get miss out on a daily dose of loli!" he declared with pride. Such is the way of a true man!

"Heh… Lolicon." Apparently, Maya's view did not change.

"But in all seriousness," he turned his focus towards the four Destroyer class in his office. "What are you girls eavesdropping over there for, huh? If you want to listen, you could've just come in and listen."

Inazuma fiddles and about. "E-Eh… it's just that… eh…" she looked down, finding the floor eye catching. She then lowers her head as if giving up on what she's about to say. "We have no reasons for that, please forgive us."

"Hahaha! What're you talking about? It's fine, it's fine. No one got hurt." The admiral laughed heartily as he rests his palm on top of Inazuma's head; he ruffled the girl's hair messy with a smile on his face. "I'll let you girls know soon anyway."

"Hm… nice…" Hibiki stares at her sister with eyes that shows subtle jealousy.

"Nice~ I want to have admiral pat my head too!" however, Ikazuchi has the initiative to grab Naruto's other hand and placing it shamelessly on her head, rewarding herself with a piece of Nirvana.

"G-Guh… A-A-As if a proper lady like me will be swayed by the likes of a mere pat!" Now, now; don't say that while looking at your sisters with jealous filled eyes… is what Maya would want to say.

The Heavy Cruiser doesn't know whether to be amazed, impressed or creeped out at the fact that this person has managed to capture all four Destroyers himself. But one thing she knows is that, she kinda wants to have her head patted too… "GAAAH! WHAT WAS I THINKING!" Maya punched herself at the face in an attempt to hide the redness present.

"Excuse me~ Oh! Nee-san, what are you doing here!?" another person enters the room. Choukai was surprised to find her sister inside the admiral's office first thing first in the morning. The glasses wearing ship girl approached her sister, delighted to being able to see her in the morning. "Morning sis! What are you doing in the admiral's office anyway? Ah, the Destroyers are here too. Hm? What are they doing with the admiral?"

"Nothing little sister… just… nothing." Maya muttered with her cheek swollen up. Apparently, armor is useless when you inflict damage to yourself. Sighing, Maya shook her head. "I was called by the bas—I mean, admiral" she's quick on correcting herself. "because he wanted to show me something."

"Ooh! What is it? What is it?" Choukai beamed; curious.

Maya grabbed the uniform that the admiral had shown her from the table, upon seeing the uniform, Choukai's eyes closed. "My eyes!" she screamed while covering her eyes. She was brought to her knees by the unsightly fiend that is the uniform. "Y-You foul beast… to be able to bring me at this state!"

"No, no, please don't play at times like this." Maya waved her hand.

"Hah!" All attention was brought to Naruto. He glared viciously at the glasses wearing Heavy Cruiser. "You fiend! How dare you call this magnificent work of art a 'foul beast'?!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. He pointed an accusing look and finger over to the glasses wearing Heavy Cruiser. "Just because you got a deck bigger than fists doesn't mean that you can brand this cool looking and downright awesome color a 'foul beast'! I say to you, nuts!"

"DON'T USE MY SISTER'S LINE!"

"Ah, Maya-san snapped."

"Hm. She did."

"Ah. She snapped."

"It's no wonder…"

**On the other side of the main building…**

KA-CLINK

"Oooh!"

Tenryuu, despite her looks and how she acts; is actually a very delicate girl.

"This is it! This is it!"

She values trust, friendship, and even relationships that she shares between her acquaintances.

"What could it be, what is it…"

And if things don't go her way, she might just get sad.

Opening the gachapon that she traded for her 100yen, the CL's face breaks like a mirror into millions of pieces. Her shoulders dropped, along with her head. "I…I got another Vegeta…" she then raised her head back, her hands spread apart. "I WANT GOKU, GOD!" Then just like any other frustrated kid out there, she began hitting on the vending machine; throwing a fit. "I want Goku, I want Goku, I want Goku!"

At that moment, Tatsuta was about to head over to the mess hall; that is until she was greeted by the sight of a crying Tenryuu. Thinking fast, she immediately went to find cover behind a corner. She peeked out with her head in full view, letting people; in case if they happen to pass by, have a full view of the blood (oil?) flowing out from her nostrils. "Th-This… t-this is…" shakily, she raised her hand which is holding a camera to record what she's seeing for later use. "Tenryuu-chan~."

That day, Tatsuta ascended to Nirvana… not.

* * *

><p>"Hm… this isn't what I expected."<p>

"What is it sir?"

The squeaking sound of a chair turning is loud and clear if heard inside the small office the two people are currently in. One is an elderly man; who looks like he's in his retirement age. It is no doubt that this person is the highest ranking officer of the entire MJN (Modern Japanese Navy); his badges and the four stars stitched to his uniform are definitely not for show. Aside for his uniform, his looks alone speaks loud of his effort and dedication in serving his country. The wrinkly and aged man is old just as he looks; but he holds an aura of wisdom that none can compare. This man is the Admiral of the fleet; Sarutobi Hiruzen.

However, in terms of looks; he could not compare to the person who is standing in front of him. A tall figure; taller than the average Japanese male, stood with attention. His form is lithe and thin; yet it suits his face more than one would think of. He is dressed in a white naval officer uniform, complete with the accessories like gloves, aiguillette, badges and also a decorative ceremonial sabre strapped to his hip. His face is angular, completely different from the elder in front of him. His hair is colored black, the same color as the night. His skin is a healthy white color; which contrasts to his dark raven eyes.

"It seems that the UAFWDs are making their move... far quicker than we expected." The old and wizened admiral stated. "They attacked England, along with the other parts of Europe. They are requesting our help on this one…" his aged eyes flickered over to the younger man in front of him. "What do you say of this, Fleet admiral Uchiha?"

Sasuke Uchiha remained indifferent. He keeps silence, only to answer a second later. "We will give them our support. I suppose the boys in Britain are requesting for naval assistance? Then that means the UAFWDs have been improving their naval tactics far too quick… I don't like this. Britain is one of the countries in the world with the strongest naval power."

True to his words.

Even before the modern times; during the Great World Wars to be exact, Britain is known to have the most absolute control and power when it comes to naval power, along with Japan and America. If they can pressure the Royal Navy this much at sea… then that means Japan will have to put in more ships than necessary.

"What about their ship girls? Are they not performing well enough?" Sasuke asked.

Hiruzen shook his head, sighing afterwards. "It's not matter of performance, Admiral Uchiha. We all know that the UAFDW is developing too fast that it's frightening. In all case, I will have a meeting with all the other admirals regarding this matter. I want you to notify _him_ about this."

"U-Ugh… sir, if I may…"

"I'm sorry Fleet admiral Uchiha. Besides, even if I were to exclude him out of this; he will find out about it eventually." A smirk is plastered across the aged man's face. "Also, we need him on this one."

Fleet admiral Sasuke sighed deeply. He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a huge migraine coming in. "Let me guess… this is about him being the only Admiral in Japan who has the permission to use those ship girls, am I right; sir?" he asked with a twitch of an eye.

Allied countries are allowed to produce their own ship girls as per agreement. And said agreement consists of; one, to not abuse and mistreat the nation's property. Two, country should respond immediately if requested for support even if it means using those ship girls. Three, ship girls are only limited as combat personnel. Four, the use of rearming with more advanced equipment is a matter that is needed to be discussed with the UNA (United Naval Alliance).

Hiruzen nodded. "That too. But you know the real reason why I want _him_ to know about this." Suddenly, things turned serious. The aged admiral's eyes turned serious; his pose straightened and firm.

Sasuke too is silence. It's because he knew what kind of person _he_ is. _He_, is a person who managed to sink an entire armada of UAFWD fleet in just three days; and all of the ships who are under _his_ command at that time, survived. The entire crewmen who were under _his_ command could not even believe that they managed to survive the operation. It even got a name of its own.

Operation: Uzumaki.

Quite fitting. Because the whole damn attack was like a maelstrom; always changing, never stopping, sinking enemy ships every minute and most of all; letting no hostile ship stay afloat at the end of it. Hence, the admiral who is in charge of that operation gained a moniker given to him from all the crewmen that returned home that day…

Akakaze.

More like 'orange wind'… still, no matter how big his pride is; Sasuke has to admit that never, ever in the history of the MJN that anyone has ever managed to defeat an entire armada of ships in only three days. Midway is nothing compared to that. Swallowing in his refusals and complain, Sasuke nodded firmly. "Very well. By your leave?"

"Dismiss."

Sasuke dismissed himself as per his senior's orders. Walking out from the office and into the hallway; Sasuke is irked at the thought of having to speak to a certain blonde haired idiot. He is not jealous mind the people who are thinking in such manner; he is just… annoyed knowing that he'll eventually meet the idiot again. He'll have to deal with all of his childish antics; from bad to worst. It's a wonder how someone like him could be so… serious in the first place.

Still, Sasuke could just look at the base's history if he wants to know who is the most active and efficient admiral. He came in second; after him. That does not irked him in the slightest; again. But it's knowing that he'll meet him is what's annoying. Unknowingly even to him, Sasuke begins walking briskly towards his quarters.

"Hey, hey. So the boys from the repair crew got real screwed."

"You mean because of that gas leak?"

"Yup."

Sasuke went pass the chattering group of serving sailors; paying them no mind seeing as there is no drills or duties. He walked the long hallway of the Japanese naval base located in Yokosuka, being familiar with the place already due to the six years he spent here. Originally, he served in the JSDF; not in the navy particularly. But at that time, the country is in need of people to transfer to the navy immediately. He is one of the many people who actually got their chance to give the navy a try.

Comparing the Military and the Navy, he'd say the Navy is more peaceful. There are less drills, both physical and mental; he gets to have a nice view of the ocean, though the facilities at the JSDF HQ are better, the ones here could easily rival them. In short, he's doing fine in the navy; he probably would've too in the military. But, duty calls from a different place and what can he do other than to reply?

"Officer on deck!"

Was the first thing he hears when he entered the next hallway. Sasuke looked around. "At ease men." They all comply. Then, Sasuke resumed his walk towards his quarters; before grabbing a bite at the mess.

He finally reached his room, a standard if not suitable room in the officer's quarters. This place is off limits to non-officers personnel, and intruders will be punished accordingly should they trespass throughout the premises. He opens the locked door with his keycard; swiping it on the required place. He entered his room, closing the door quietly behind. The interior of his room isn't something extraordinary. A simple single bed, accompanied with a small desk with a lamp standing on the surface; along with the desk that he has if he's doing some paperwork inside his room and also a wardrobe with another two set of his uniform, his casual wear are also there too; that's about it.

But if there is one thing uncommon about his room, it would the pictures hung on the wall. Scattered on almost every available spaces there are on the walls, are pictures showing various and different people. Sasuke glanced around his simple yet abstract room; taking in the view of all the frames hung on the wall. His face expressing an indifferent expression; he steadily walked over to his bed and allowed himself to sit on it. As he stares off into space like a person who is captured in their own little world, the phone on his desk rings.

RING RING

Slowly, Sasuke's eyes drawled upon the telephone on his desk. A frown marred his face. Who could it be? He wasn't expecting any calls for today. Regardless, the black haired Fleet Admiral walked over to pick and answer the phone. He holds the phone close to his ears. "Hello, this is Fleet Admiral Uchiha speaking."

_"Ah! It's daddy!"_

_"Wai~ daddy!"_

Almost instantly, the frown on his face changed into that of a small yet warmhearted smile. "Fugaku, Mikoto; how are you?"

_"We're fine daddy! Oh yeah, when are you returning home daddy? We want to play with you!"_

_"Moh, Nii-chan, let me speak with daddy!"_

_"Wait a minute, I miss daddy too you know!"_

_"Moh! Okaa-san, Nii-chan won't let me talk to daddy!"_

_"Hai, hai…"_ a different voice comes through the line. _"Sorry, Sasuke… the kids are excited to see you."_ It's his wife.

The smile on his face drags wider. "It's fine Sakura… I'm don't mind."

_"Haah…"_ his wife sighed. _"Just when will they let you go back home? We miss you."_

"You know that I won't be returning anytime soon. The navy needs me, and it's too late for me to return anyway." He answered back.

_"…You're right Sasuke… just, don't forget us; okay?"_

"How could I forget all of you?" he chuckled lightly.

_"Ah! Daddy,"_ suddenly the voice switched to that of a little boy's. _"don't forget to bring us something from the navy, okay?"_

"Sure. Sure. Now you kids be good to your mother alright? Don't cause her trouble, now."

_"Okay daddy!"_

After saying his goodbyes, Sasuke closed the phone back. He dozes off again, thinking how much of a better place home is instead of this base. Hunching forward, he uses the desk's surface to support himself. Slowly, from the corner of his eyes; red liquid began to drip. The droplet of crimson liquid stains the dark colored hardwood that is the desk. The Fleet Admiral clutched his head due to the searing pain he's feeling from his eyes. His teeth are gritting, to hold himself from the pain.

Slowly, he opened his eyes; showing a mix of white, black and red. Both of his sclera is red due to the blood pooling in his eyes. He wiped his eyes with his sleeves, ridding the excess blood from the corner of his eyes while staining his uniform in the process. He stumbles backwards, but he managed to keep himself on his feet. Swallowing the huge lump of air in his throat, he bit the lower part of his lips. He fell sideways, unto his bed.

He lay there, panting and heaving; as if he'd done three laps around the base. Slowly, his hand reached inside his breast pocket; pulling out a small eye drop container filled with a clear liquid. He shakily raised the container above his bleeding eye, pressing it gently so that a droplet of clear liquid would land on his eye. He does the similar method with the next eye, before placing it back inside his pocket. He blinked a few times, in order to get the solution mixed in.

After feeling the pain subsiding, he opened his eyes to reveal their usual black color with majority of the blood gone.

"This… this is not good."

Nothing good has ever come whenever he's in this state. The last thing that happened was for an entire armada of UAFWD fleets sallying for Japan. But, said armada was taken off by a certain idiot admiral.

"You…" Sasuke trailed off, the image of a grinning blonde haired man appeared in his head.\

* * *

><p>"A-A-ACHOO!" Naruto, who was about to enjoy a bowl of hot steaming ramen, sneezed loudly that it resounded throughout the mess hall. Instantly, everyone's eyes are on him. He looked around, looking embarrassed. "Sorry…" he said lowly. After getting rid of all the staring, he picked up strands of noodles skillfully by using his chopsticks—<p>

"Admiral!"… only for someone to ruin his first bite. With irritated eyes, he glanced over to the person who ruined the glorious moment for him. He saw Tenryuu rushing at him carrying a tray filled with God knows what ship girls eat. She reached to him, placing down the tray right opposite of him. "What're you doing out here?"

"Why? Can't I eat here in the mess just like anybody else?" he asked, if not annoyed.

"Don't get me wrong." Tenryuu said. She pointed her chopsticks over to her CO, staring accusingly. "Normally, COs eat in their office; so I'm just surprised why you're not eating in there." She said.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Meh, too lazy. I'd have to get my meals from here anyway." He said before noticing the look he received from Tenryuu. "What?" she's been looking at him weird from the past three seconds.

"You… you don't know?" the CL muttered questioningly.

"Know what?" Naruto asked, really confused.

The dark haired CL sighed into her hands. She lifts her head up again. "You can assign one of the ship girls to be your Assistant Ship. They're like assistant who'll help you when you're doing your job."

From Tenryuu's concise and simple explanation, Naruto perks up. "So, I can make them do my job?" he asked, hopefully.

Tenryuu was quick to reply. "Hell no you lazy bastard! They're just… you know… assistants." She concluded lamely.

"You have such ways with words…"

"Shut up." Shaking her head. "Anyway, you can ask someone to be your secretary; that way you don't really have to do anything on your own." Her cheeks becomes a light shade of pink, and the anxiety in her eyes are much obvious. "W-Well, if you want a dependable person who can do anything; you can ask m—"

"Thank you Tenryuu, I'll go and ask Tatsuta for the offer. She might just be interested. Anyway, you better finish your food. I finished mine already."

"SINCE WHEN?!"

"Well, see ya Tenryuu." He stood up and leave, as if nothing had happened.

Tenryuu sits there, as solid as rock. Frozen, she stares at the disappearing form of her admiral; before watching him eventually disappearing. She pushed her food away, slumping down on the table. "Stupid admiral…" sniffed out the CL with teary eye. "He could've just asked me…"

"Ask you what?"

"He could've asked me to become his secreta—whoa Maya, since when did you-?!" surprised, Tenryuu nearly jumped from her seat when she noticed the Heavy Cruiser's presence behind her. Said CA is having a curious expression on her face; and looking at the tray she's carrying, it seems that she's just about to have her lunch.

"So, what did you talked about with the admiral." Maya took her place right beside the CL. She grabbed a spoonful of whatever that is that she's eating and placed it inside her mouth and swallowing it in the end.

"N-Nothing. He just wanted to ask me about… secretary ships! Yeah, that's it." Tenryuu coughed to her fist to rid herself off the nervousness she's showing. "Can you believe it? He didn't even know that he could choose someone to become his secretary? Lame, huh?"

Smirking, Maya pointed her spoon accusingly at the Light Cruiser. "It's lame because he didn't know about it or is it lame because he didn't choose you to become the secretary, huh?" she got the right reaction from Tenryuu; her face flushed deep red and steam is blowing out from her ears…horn or something. "Heh, so little Tenryuu-chan got the hots for the admiral, huh? So fast, don't you think?"

"What?!" Tenryuu practically squeaked out. She stood from her place, shaking her head and hands repeatedly to deny Maya's assumption. "Nonononononono! I do not feel that way for him!" she shouted in denial. Then, everything is silent. She looked around, noticing that everyone is staring at her. Hiding her embarrassment, she reluctantly fall back to her seat, giving Maya a glare. "You bitch…"

Instead of being threatened, Maya laughed heartily. "Hahaha! Just jokin', just jokin'… anyway, never thought of seeing the guy here… he was eating?" she asked Tenryuu for answer.

"Yeah…" muttered the eye patch wearing CL irately, still finding Maya's earlier attitude annoying. "He said he's too lazy to eat in his office; that's why I told him he could have an assistant to bring him food." Tenryuu said before grabbing a bite of what she's having. "I don't really care either way."

"Well, you care enough to tell about getting assistants, no?"

"…Fuck you bitch."

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>Eight years ago, when he was still a trainee admiral; he remembered his senior telling him that no matter what the situation is, he must trust his crew to the fullest. He took that statement to heart; he even made it as one of his applications in serving in the navy. But that was before these ship girls are created; a year after nuclear hell went to shit. He remembered vaguely the memory of that day; a year isn't enough for countries all around the globe to completely heal. Even Japan, as of now, hasn't healed completely yet.<p>

Then in '17, these ship girls are created, two years after he got promoted to the rank of Admiral. The news about the arrival of these girls did not enthusiast him as much as the other naval officers did; though it did interest him. He was just glad that mankind has managed to find a way to save the world from completely destruction. In 2020, five years before this year; he met one of the technicians in charge of these ship girls.

Her name is Hyuuga Hinata.

A lovely woman she was; a cute face, a shy attitude and overall a polite and beautiful maiden. He was charmed by her demeanor; her looks. He made an effort and courage to get to know her; an action she kindly returned. Days, became weeks, and weeks became months… the longer time went, the closer they were. He thought of proposing to her.

That is until that incident.

In the month of August, 2021; Yokosuka naval base received intel that an armada worth of UAFWDs proto-ships are coming in with the intent to attack Japan. All admirals who resides in bases scattered throughout the Japanese sea are either dead or had their base completely destroyed. At that time, the ship girls who were produced are still going through maintenance; so they are not stationed to neighboring naval bases scattered throughout the sea.

Deciding that the news is in fact frightening and grave in its own; Japan put these girls to use immediately. They were sent to the frontlines in hopes of stopping the hostile fleets from advancing deeper into Japanese territory. But Japan was greatly surprised to find all of their ship girls, sunk to ironbottom. It caused hysterias, the navy began panicking. So, they sent out normal ships instead; with two objective. One, is to prevent enemy ships from advancing deeper into Japana and two, is to recover the ship girls which were sunk earlier in battle.

Since Hinata was a part of the tech group sent, he had to let her go. She promised him that she'll return and that she'll look forward to the future that they both will share.

But that never happened.

The ship that Hinata was in during that time, was sunk by enemy ships. Just like that, the news struck him way worse than the nukes did to the countries. He remembered fainting on the spot when he heard the news in the report department. Again, it struck him worse than the nukes did. The next day after the revelation, he steps up as a Fleet Admiral; the second in command to the Grand Admiral Sarutobi Hiruzen. He lead the defense operation in the sea, pushing back hostiles fleet to farther waters.

Then at that very moment, he changed the operation.

It was no longer a defense op. It was an elimination op. He had command over every operational and present ship that Japan had to offer, He lead every single Japanese ship that was under his command to neutralize UAFWDs threat at sea. He issued command to every active naval bases within the vicinity, he sent out Battleships to sink Carriers… looking back, he realized how much of a monster he was.

An entire armada was sunk at the Pacific by him. He also managed to bring all units back home alive. They even named the operation as Uzumaki; a tribute to his unique and unarranged yet terrifying tactics. Also, they gave him a name too; Akakaze. Or Red Wind. He wondered… why Akakaze? Wouldn't Kaiju suit him best? A monster? Then, it kicked into him to realize that his men weren't referring him to as an abomination of some sort. They recognized him as a hero, a guardian. He is the red wind that guides the evening sky of the sea; referring to the time when the battle happened.

Still… what is a hero, if not a human? He is human. So after the whole op was cleared, the people at HQ rewarded him. Something even more precious than medals; well he did get some but that's not the point. At that point onwards, he is the only admiral on duty who has the permission to command any Japanese ship girls in any operations he takes.

The news was… not so surprising. Given because he was still struck by Hinata's death at that time. He felt numb; he couldn't even enjoy the party that they held for him at that time. After the operation, he returned to his and Hinata's supposed home in Kyoto. He cried himself for days, he got permits to leave the base for a few weeks from the management team; so he might as well put that permission to use.

Weeks later, the approaching of 2021, he returned as an active officer back at Yokosuka. Then four years later, he's here sitting on his chair playing battleships on his own.

"B-1 to B-5! Oh shit, I can't do that…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hm… this is a somewhat filler chapter. I planned on going on with the main storyline from here but, I thought 'why not keep the peeps waiting longer?' sorry if you lot are disappointed. But worry you shall not! I'll bring more of these as soon as I finished my exams! Which means that I won't be writing anything for the next two weeks. But don't worry, I'll also pull out some Touhou stuffs for those of you who missed them.**

**And uh… I've been meaning to ask on how much you've guys been enjoying this. I know that it's probably too early for me to ask this so I won't ask more of that. I'm also curious on what you guys want to see in this story. Like, new faces, relationships and the such… well, feel free to comment in the reviewer's section; I'll give you a PM if your request interests me.**

**Well, with that said; have a good day/night!**


	4. Chapter 4

Standing on the roof of the main building belonging to the Southern Pacific naval base is something that he found relaxing recently. The start of it was when he was in the middle of planning a prank for Tenryuu; but girl's been sharp lately, he can't just stay in his office with her constantly barging in and checking things out. So, he found an alternative place. The roof for the main building is not as spacious as the warehouses in the base. It's enough to hold tens if not more people. The roof's well maintained, and he got a nice view of the setting sun from here.

He never knew that a place like this exists in this base, because in his old base; he doesn't have a neat rooftop like this. Probably due to him signing that expansion permit a while back… but meh, who cares? He's here now. Anyway, he thought about always coming here whenever he's not busy signing papers in the office.

As the blonde admiral stares at the setting sun with dazed filled eyes, he remembered something important. He remembered. Assistant ships! Tenryuu mentioned it a few days before. It's about… ship girls acting as his assistants and helping him out with work if he's not mistaken. If that's so, then it'll be great. Especially after what he received from HQ two days earlier.

He always thought that the UAFWDs are cowards… but they're desperate cowards. Desperate and dangerous. Really? Attacking the entirety of Britain? One of the world's super powers? If Britain isn't a neighboring country to some of the world's other major country, then that plan might have made a little bit more sense. But still… something about this irks him more than comfort. It's not often that the UAF received vital information like this; especially when UAFWDs got most of the American seas conquered.

The Japanese sea is probably the safest part of sea on earth right now, followed by England then the Mediterranean. But… he really have to give the boys in the States a huge credit for managing to stay alive until this far. He heard news of what's happening in the U.S… another Civil war it seems like. But in any case, he had been requested by HQ to take the fight to the English Channel; something that really surprised him.

It's been… how many years since he last participate as an officer at war. The last mission he went ended up with him getting one hell of a rep. He doubt that the boys at U.K would recognize him… still, he really needs to think more about this. Of course, he is not going to say no to something serious as this. But with the units he got with him… he's not sure if he's ready to go out on an operation yet.

Because, let's see: he has four Destroyer ships, all of them belonging to the same class, two Light Cruisers belonging to the same class and as well as two Heavy Cruisers belonging to the same class. While Maya and Choukai are able to deliver serious damage; he lacks more stability.

He needs a Battleship. Not only that, perhaps a Carrier too; standard or whatever. As long as they're able to deploy scout planes, then he's good. Buuut… he doubt that HQ will construct him a new set of ships even if he were to blackma—convince them. Welp, this only means one thing…

Time to head out and gather resources.

The resources he had before has decreased due to them being used for supplies to neighboring bases that needs them. He don't mind, in fact, it proves to the other newbie admirals out there how much of a kind and generous soul he is.

His face really turned scary there for a minute.

But back to topic. With a shortage of resources, this means that he must gather enough resources to compensate for the losses he has. Damn newbie admirals can't even gather their resources… which also means that he'll have to actually start working from now on.

.

.

.

The blonde haired CO dramatically and slowly dropped to his knees, arms and shoulder shaking. "Why…?" he breathed out almost painfully. "I never planned to work seriously so why… why must I work noooooow!" he shouted with hands raised, stretching the 'o' vowel while staring at the orange sky above him. Fake tears leaked from the corner of his eyes just for the sake of it.

"Oh, so this is where you a—what the hell are you doing?" Tenryuu, who just entered the rooftop pointed out flatly at the kneeling CO who is shedding tears while looking at the sky.

In a flash, the blonde CO returned to his usual state; the calm and mischievous person he is. He grinned while rubbing his gloved palms together. "Nothing~ nothing~ just… enjoying the view." He gestured towards the image of the orange semi circle that is the sun which is setting at the far horizon.

Tenryuu blinked a few times, as if to believe what the man's saying. "Oookay…? Anyway, I've been meaning to ask: why aren't you at your office? We were wondering when we would get our assignments…" she asked.

Naruto straightened his hat before fixing his collar. "Ahem, about that… you girls will receive them tomorrow. All eight of you." His grin turned whiter and grew wider. The way his blue eyes gleam before the sun caused an uneasy feeling to spread within Tenryuu's chest. He saw the ship girl's uneasy expression, causing him to grin wider. "Oh, don't worry… you girls will be using your armaments this time."

He turned downright evil. "…Not."

That crushed whatever hope that's left within Tenryuu's head. The CL holds back a shout, figuring out that she won't gain anything from shouting at him. Aside from a punishment of course. So basically, she's too tired to argue with the blonde. Instead, she merely grunted. "Hn… just… meh." She turned away and proceeds to re-enter the building via the door.

Naruto's grin never disappears from his face even when the Light Cruiser left him. He instead shook his head, feeling the gears of careful planning and diabolical schemes turning. He looked back at the sun, seeing that it will set in just a matter of minutes. "Hooh… this week will be interesting…"

…and tiring to boot. He hasn't even finished last week's paperwork.

.

.

.

Maybe he should get himself an assistant?

And at the same time, every ship girl in the base shivered.

* * *

><p>The thing about being an officer is that you don't have to go into the battlefield with guns blazin'. All you have to do is sit on your desk, pushing pens and get those papers done. Sadly, our enigmatic admiral isn't so keen on doing what an officer has to do. He'd rather go out there on his flagship and shooting cannons till' Midway!<p>

But considering that he's stuck with ship girls… he can't 'get on' them.

The sound of paper scribbling is probably loud enough to be heard by more than two people inside the office. There is the Commanding Officer himself, signing papers twelve times faster than a fighter jet… yeah, that might've been too overboard. But in any case, he's about to finish his work; about time, he says… he'd been working ever since he returned from the roof.

"Aaaaand… done. Phew… took longer than what I expected…" he discards the pen he was using to scribble. Raising both hands to the air, he stretched them upwards to relieve himself off the aching muscles. The sound of bones popping up to place is like music to his ears and he hummed in joy for a work done. He's not wearing his jacket, simply because it's stuffy. He has it draped over his chair, behind him. His blue eyes glanced over the digital clock in his terminal. It's seven thirty… the girls must be in their quarters and getting ready to sleep. Oh well, maybe it's time for him to get to sleep too.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

…Damn him and his big mouth. His terminal beeped, a small screen popped up saying, 'One new video message' written in white. Naruto yawned; he's really going to prank whoever sent him this message… lazily, he clicked the window and let the video play through a hologram that is projected 3 Dimensionally. The face of a middle aged man pops up. It made him tense, not due to the face, but from the expression the guy is showing.

"_To any neighboring allied naval base, we are under attack from enemy fleet! UAFWDs! Requesting back up; I repeat, requesting back up—!" _a large explosion shook the attacked base. _"Just send reinforcement here! We won't survive if this continues!" _then, everything went static.

Acting fast, Naruto pressed the intercom on his desk. "All ship girls report to the office, this is not a drill." He then switched over to the terminal, analyzing the video feed. "Hm… it was sent approximately twenty minutes ago." Based from info, it was sent from within this base's vicinity, which means it's not far. "Still… if I don't send back up in time…"

**BAM**

His words are cut short due to the banging open of door. Tenryuu, Maya, the Destroyers, Choukai and Tatsuta rushes inside; if the urgent in their face did not show their state, then Naruto did not know what else. The ship girls immediately aligned themselves up, starting from their classes. The Heavy Cruisers are first, followed by Tenryuu and Tatsuta then followed by the Destroyers. Due to Maya being at the most right, she's responsible for command.

"Attention!"

Naruto grabbed his terminal and holds it close to his person. His sharp blue eyes show the girls that things are serious; it also caused a few of them to be tense. "Girls, it seems that you'll have to postpone your sleep." Naruto tapped a few times at his terminal, in which a projector begins to light up and shows them the feed that he watched earlier. "An Allied Naval Base is under attack by hostile fleet, reports stated that it was UAFWDs. The attack happened approximately twenty minutes ago, and we still haven't got any report from the base. This worries me."

"I want all of you to gear up and set sail for the base, coordinates will be given to you as you launched. Go. And await further instructions when you arrived." The admiral said firmly. He gives the girls a salute. "May the spirit of Yamato be with us all." They returned the salute. "Dismiss." They did as per instruction.

Naruto let his hands relaxed, he looked down at his desk and sighed. An attack coming in so soon… is this a way for the UAFWDs to diverse the Japanese's attention so they won't send back ups to England? If so, this was poorly done. If he happened to be one of the UAFWDs, he'll send bomber planes to blow up Yokosuka asap… but it's a good thing he's not one of them. He turned around, looking at the far, dark and vast ocean. Being stationed in the middle of the ocean is actually… scary. Yet it's safe at the same time.

Because if he were to die, he'll sink… he'll meet Hinata once more.

Unconsciously, he balled his fists hard; causing them to turn white due to the lack of blood circulation. Though his face may make him look calm, inside, he's not. He's anything but calm… the UAFWDs never, ever attacked minor bases before. They would go and strike for the major ones directly. Why? Because they got it all! The weapons, the machines, the manpower, the everything! That bomb that was dropped on Tokyo is just a way for them to leave their mark; they haven't really put a hole yet.

He just hopes that this pointless war will come to an end… if it won't, then may God help those terrorists…

Because he'll do **anything** to stop them… even if it means taking things to a personal standpoint.

**At the docks…**

"Maya, you ready?" a nod. "Girls, you're set?" four synchronized nods. "You, you ready?" a glasses wearing head nodded. "And Tatsuta, you're good?" a smiling face nodded. Tenryuu knows that there wasn't a particular ship, amongst them, who was assigned as the flagship. It might be her command protocols taking over, making her efficient and confident enough to take things as a leader would or it is her own decision to become the flagship.

The dark haired and eye patch wearing Light Cruiser is fully equipped with her armaments. She has her sword strapped to her hips, along with her 14cm naval guns and followed by the rest of her equipment. She looked… more serious. Because she too knows that this isn't some small matter. As per production, she is installed with countless of data involving the enemy; the UAFWDs. Searching her memory or database, she is able to find reports of what happened when the terrorists struck the world.

"We'll go and provide reinforcements if needed to! Prep yourselves for launch," at that, everyone including Tenryuu herself began to get ready to set for sail. Even if the southern winds are blowing, as if signifying the coming of a bad omen, they will still go regardless of the consequences. "First Fleet! **Launching!**" just like a flock of flightless bird, they launched themselves accordingly, hitting the sea.

Inside the office, Naruto is doing the most important part of today's operation… if it could be considered important. He is looking at the projected feed that he managed to acquire via satellite and he does not like what he's seeing. The base that is under attack is a few clicks away from here, his girls will reach there in a few hours. "Girls, I managed to get satellite readings on the situation. It seems that the UAFWDs are bringing in their new guns…"

"_In Japanese, please?"_ it seems that Tenryuu isn't familiar with epicnese…

"They're armed with new vessels, because I've never seen anything like them before…" he zoomed in on the feed, getting a clear view of the enemy units. "20cm cannons… machine guns… automated AAs… these guys have been improving a lot ever since last time…" he muttered in morbid awe. "I can't identify which class those vessels are from but if I have to say for now, they're as good as a Battleship. I want you girls to divide yourself into two groups, devise a plan to keep the enemies away from the base."

"_Sir!"_ he received a salute from the other side of the coms.

Narrowing his eyes, he did not took his face off from the feed he's receiving. "Wait… those are not just Battleships… wait, where are the crews…?!" further investigation, those ships are not normal. Normally, vessels would have sailors who would man certain parts of the ship. Some of the guns requires manpower to be used; and some are controlled remotely from within the command bridge. He can see, from the feed, missiles being launched into the air. "They have anti-subs too?! Shit…" things are getting deep, Mariana deep.

**With the girls….**

"Choukai, Inazuma, Hibiki, Tatsuta! You four will go and defend the southern part of the base! Maya and I will flank them from the distance while Akatsuki and Ikazuchi will act for support!" while skiing through the waters, Tenryuu ordered her fellow squadron to their new duties. "We'll sink them if we have to."

"Tenryuu-chan, I'm getting readings from a few clicks ahead!" Tatsuta informed her ship sister.

"Be careful team!" she switched to her comms. "Command, what's your order?"

"Fire at will, provide support for friendly fleet and report back once you're done. I can't use the UAV anymore since it's taking up much of the base's main power source." Was her reply.

"Understood! You heard the man, let's sink some baddies!" Tenryuu shouted as she charges in, sword in hand.

"I'm reading multiple signatures from the south-east! I'm not sure whether they're friends or foes!" as they enter deeper waters, the situation is beginning to show itself. Sounds of distant naval battle going on is audible, the sounds of cannons being fired and hulls exploding is like the start of a new day in the middle of the night. The First fleet went on ahead, not forgetting Tatsuta's earlier warning about there being multiple signs of signatures up ahead.

"Maya, let's go! We'll provide support from there! The other, stick to the plan!" Maya and Tenryuu speeds off forward, leaving the others to handle the other part of the plan. As they rushes off to war zone, Tenryuu grinned. "Now this is what I've been waiting for…"

Maya shared the same expression as Tenryuu's. "Heh, you can say that again." The two battle crazed ship girls charges forward, deep into cannon fire. Maya managed to identify hostile ships, distinguishing them between allied ships. Without hesitating, she readied her shot. "Cannons ready! Fire!" the sound of shots being fired is like the day's first and ever alarm, signaling that something is about to be at the receiving end of pain.

Maya's shot connects to an enemy ship's hull, dealing moderate damage. Maya couldn't stop the excitement showing in the form of a grin, instead, it gets even wider and wider. She readied another set of shots, preparing for a volley of seemingly to be endless shells. "Cannons… fire!"

More _daka_ was done that day…

With Tenryuu, she's doing as fine as Maya; except she's dealing with things her own way. While she may not have the firepower of a Heavy Cruiser, she has her undying and unbreakable will and the resolve to win. Those two alone managed her to deal a good amount of damage to the enemies. "Cannons, go for it!" shots were fired from her cannons; hitting directly into an enemy ship's hull. She got lucky, one of her shots managed to penetrate through a weak spot on the enemy's hull. She readied another shot, this time aiming for that weak spot. "Fire!"

**BOOOOOOOM**

"Whoa—ly shit!"

She didn't expect for the ship to blow up in flames just like that. She must've hit the fuel containers which were placed right under the deck. Pure skills right there. The explosion was loud that it made her sure that Tatsuta and the others heard it from wherever they are right now. She got a few oil splashes here and there, but that didn't bother her. She needs to check in with the others. "Team, checking in."

"Things are fine where I'm at!—" a loud explosion. "Hah! Sunk another one!" Maya seems to be handling herself well. Too well in fact.

"We are fine here too Tenryuu-chan, we managed to evacuate the drifted crewmates and returned them safely to their base." Tatsuta said from her end. "But we really need to clear things up here fast."

"Um! Good work Tatsuta." Tenryuu acknowledges her sister ship's. "Command, we are currently defending the base. What's our next move?"

"_Keep on driving enemy ships off the base. I want that base intact." _Naruto commanded strictly.

"You heard the guy, let's go!"

And not a single bullet was wasted that day.

* * *

><p>"Great job girls, you impressed me." Naruto has to smile. He has to. How could he not when his fleet girls returned after a job well done? "And Tenryuu… great job, you really were something out there." Smiling, he said those words from the bottom of his heart. Maya, Tenryuu, Choukai, Tatsuta and the Destroyers are inside the office; looking like they've been coming out from a warzone. They did, actually.<p>

"S-Shut up! It's not like I want your praise, okay?" the Light Cruiser looked away under the admiral's gaze. Her blushing increased when she heard her fellow ship girls giggling at her embarrassed state. "S-Shut up! I'm not happy about this one bit!" it seems that the more she speaks, the redder she gets. It's a wonder that she's not overheating herself up to this point…

"Heh, says the girl who's as red as the evening sun."

"Shut up you bitch, want me to sink you?!"

"Tch! Wazzat you tramp?!"

The two began to bicker, Naruto thought that he'd better stop this. "Ahem." The blonde haired admiral coughed to his fist, getting the two girls to stop bickering. Looking over his ship girls, he never knew that it's been more than a month ever since he first met them. With the exception of a few others. "Now that you all have faced your very first combat experience, I think that it's time for you girls to learn of something."

Everyone tensed, because of the grave tone that Naruto is using. The blonde haired admiral speaks, "A few days ago, I received words from HQ about something happening in England. The UAFWDs are planning to attack Britain in the near future. This is very serious and I am sure that this is no joke." He can see the intensity increasing within everyone's form. "We will be sent to take the fight to Britain as a support, so I want you girls to train seriously from now on. Of course, at the same time, I will also be focusing on expanding our fleet." At that, everyone's expression brightens immediately. Yes, even Naruto's.

"Question sir." Surprisingly, it's Hibiki who requested.

"Granted."

"What about the attack today? Do you plan on reporting it to HQ?" the white haired Destroyer asked politely.

"I did. There's nothing to worry about that. Though I am sure that HQ will suspect a few things about the incident… it's suspicious to begin with after all…" with that thing earlier happening after he learned about the planned attack on Britain? That's no coincidence alright.

"I see. Then another one."

"Shoot."

"Are some of us going to get our remodel? I know that it might be early for some but…" Hibiki was silenced by her CO, who raised a gloved palm.

"I was thinking of the same thing… but after giving much thought into it, it would be better for me to expand the fleet by requesting more units with the HQ's permission." He really lacked important units for his fleet. While having two Heavy Cruisers and two Light Cruisers are as good as it sound, a Battleship would be nice. Maybe an Aircraft Carrier too. But he'll prioritize the focus on getting Battleships for now.

"I see." Hibiki nodded, satisfied with her commander's reply.

Naruto glanced at the tablet he's holding, looking at the time. "If that is all then you girls can go and dock, I'll be busy in my office." He said as he placed the terminal on top of his desk. Making a confused face, he turned towards the girls; none of them made the move for the door. "I said you girls can go and dock…?"

All ship girls present look away. However, Inazuma is the only one who managed to bring herself to speak. "U-Um… if the admiral doesn't mind… will he…" she hesitated. "will he… will he appoint someone to be the secretary ship, nanodesu?" she asked, embarrassed.

Naruto's eyes widened in realization. So they're fussing about that… "Ah… I see… well," he started to think on how he should answer the question given to him. "I'm… certainly in need of some assistance right now, but I don't think that it's wise to be keeping you girls off from your training time just so that I could get some papers done." He said. "I want you girls to be on your best condition, you don't have to worry about me."

"N-No!" surprisingly, it's Maya who rebutted. "Don't say that! You're our admiral, no? You must be in top condition if you're going to lead us, yeah? So don't hesitate and let me— I-I mean us help you, okay?" Naruto was sure that she's going to say something aside from 'us'…

Naruto is wide eyed. Never, ever once in his time serving as a Naval Officer had he heard someone say something like Maya did. For once, back in his old base; the people were not so interested when it comes to aiding him. But here… these girls are something else… something much better he dare say. After a second of shock, he smiled.

"Then… I'll give it some thinking then. For now, dismiss. You girls deserved your rest."

"Hai!"

With that, all of the girls begin to head towards the dock to get themselves refreshed up.

"Haaa… maybe taking this position isn't so bad after all?" inside his office, Naruto speaks to no one in particular. Having these ship girls around is a nice change of pace for someone like him. He took a short glance at the white ceiling above him, staring off into a daze. Seriously… it's better up there on the roof other than here in the office. But he did say that he'll be all day long here inside, thinking of plans regarding the upcoming assignment.

…maybe thinking of a plan of the upcoming assignment is impossible after all. But, that doesn't mean that he can't do anything about now.

Now, he's going to build his empire. An empire of ship girls.

* * *

><p><strong>Days later…<strong>

* * *

><p>"Hibiki, Inzuma! Flank them from the east, Tenryuu, Choukai; keep on firing to keep their attention on you!"<p>

The sound of cannons firing in the morning is the sign that Uzumaki Naruto isn't someone to be dealt lightly. For him, disciple is something that all people should have. Whether they are literally the laziest person on earth, a person must have discipline. And he is one of those people who discipline himself well. Serving in the Navy requires a lot of disciple, training and both good mind and body. There is no room for doubt, yet there are times where he finds himself clouded in it. But what can he say? He is only human. But these ship girls… they are not human, but, they sure act like one.

He can see, from the edge of the dock, his fleet girls having a mock battle against each other. The red team, which is lead by Tenryuu, consist of Tenryuu herself, Choukai, Inazuma and Hibiki. Tenryuu turns out to be an excellent leader, being strong in performance and keeping team morale at the same time. The opposing team, the blue team, is lead by Maya and consisting of Tatsuta, Ikazuchi and Akatsuki. Maya too is good in leading her comrades, she too shares the same passion as Tenryuu; seeing that the both of them are good in performance and leading their units. Naruto, dressed in only his collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up; grinned as he saw the performance in front of him.

Hibiki, along with Inazuma, flanks the opposing team's right flank while Tenryuu and Choukai gives them suppressive fire. Since the Destroyers are famed for their speed, they reached the opposing team's flank to direct an assault. They are equipped with training shells, a high density rubber shelling designed for non-lethal attacks. Which is from the start, why would ship girls be armed with non-lethal ammunition? He paid the little detail no mind any longer.

"Tatsuta, Maya, you focus on the enemy's flagship! Ikazuchi, Akatsuki, don't let those two flank you, think of something!"

Tatsuta wasn't plan on being undone by her own sister. She fired off shots, volleying rubber bullets across the distance. She soon received support from Maya and being more efficient in firepower than her, she managed to give an excellent support. Maya and Tatsuta managed to pin Tenryuu and Choukai down, allowing their team's Destroyers to advance and cover their left flank. Akatsuki and Ikazuchi sails ahead, side by side. Then they seperates, Ikazuchi to the left and Akatsuki to the right. Ikazuchi took the chance to lay down covering fire for Akatsuki. Naruto raised an eyebrow. This is not what he expected…

Akatsuki increased her speed, zooming straight for Inazuma and Hibiki. She fired off shots, catching the attention of the two opposing Destroyers. That managed to gain both of her sisters' attention on her, to which they returned with a volley of rubber shells. Meanwhile, Ikazuchi advances, but she is smart enough to figure out whatever silent plan that she and her eldest sister manage to devise. Ikazuchi approaches from Inazuma and Hibiki's rear, firing off her cannons; delivering rubber shots towards Hibiki and Inazuma.

Naruto gets it. So Akatsuki and Ikazuchi was planning to pin both of them from the back and front. Good, that may be. But it won't be for far too long. The CA and CL class of each team are preoccupied with each other, meaning that the Destroyers are on their own without the support from their… seniors(?). The Heavy Cruisers and Light Cruisers are too busy dealing with each other's attack, each of them aren't able to give support to their Destroyer allies.

"Tenryuu! Don't get distracted! Choukai, don't focus only on Tatsuta, help Tenryuu too! Maya, you're being too lax, just because you're having it easy doesn't mean that Tatsuta doesn't need help!" he smiled, feeling satisfied that the girls are already into this mock battle. From here onwards, they should be more independent…

He watched the mock battle for another thirty minutes, and after evaluating his ship girls' performance, he decided that it was enough. "Okay, stop what you are doing! We are done!" as soon as he said the first sentence, the girls stopped fighting with each others. "Return to dock for evaluations."

Not long later, he was approached by his ship girls.

"Admiral, admiral! Did you saw how I was back then? Ikazuchi was so cool, no?" the brown haired Destroyer beamed at the taller male as soon as she reached him. She grabs unto the blonde's uniform, clutching it while looking upwards; looking at him with sparkling eyes. "I'll become the flagship the next time we go out for sortie, yeah?"

Inazuma, not wanting to be outdone by her sister, latched unto the admiral's clothes too. "A-Ano… I know that I was not good back then b-but… Inazuma will definitely show admiral her serious side soon!" there's an aura of determination leaking from her. It is obvious that she really means what she said.

Then, the eldest of them all latched upon their commander's arm, pouting. "H-Hmph! As a fine lady, Akatsuki will show that she is not incompetent! So you must watch me all the time, okay commander?" with a pouty lips and expecting eyes, Akatsuki is—in hindsight—trying to get the admiral's attention on her and her only.

"O-Oi! You three, don't suddenly grab on me like that!"

Hibiki, the white haired Destroyer, looks at the sight of her sisters latching unto the commander like flies stuck on sticky straws. She wonder, it must be nice being them huh? But seeing the commander, he is having a hard time keeping her sisters off from him and trying to prevent himself from falling. Hibiki could join her sister or make an effort to help the admiral from her sisters' clutches… choices, choices…

"Maa~ the admiral sure is popular huh?" Tatsuta wondered aloud with a smile on her face.

"A-As if… the guy's not that brilliant if you ask me…"

"Now, now Tenryuu-chan~ you do not say those kind of word when you're looking with envy~"

"S-Shut up!"

Maya and her sister watched the direct and indirect interaction between their fellow ship girls and the admiral. Choukai giggled unto her hand, pushing her glasses back she commented, "Even so… the admiral sure is popular. When I was assigned on a position on this naval base, I thought that it was going to be some random old geezer doing the work."

Maya scratched her chin, shaking her head after hearing her sister's comment. "Well, they say unexpected things happen in the most unpredictable times… and my—I-I mean our admiral sure is unpredictable…"

"Ufufu… what was that Onee-chan, you were going to say 'm—UGAAAH!" Suddenly, Choukai found herself face first three meters from where she originally was.

"S-S-Shut up!"

After a while, the admiral managed to get his girls' attention. Looking over at each of his units' face, he then coughed into his fist. "Ahem. Great work all of you; you girls did excellent on today's mock battle. The Destroyers did a good job on attacking, good job you two, didn't expect you to do that." He glanced over to Ikazuchi and Akatsuki, giving them a smile. "Hibiki and Inazuma did good on attempting that flank, a little bit more on-the-field planning and teamwork would be enough to pull it off." Naruto nodded. "Maya, Choukai. Good work on assisting the Light Cruisers; the same goes for Tenryuu and Tatsuta too. Remember, in the battlefield, there's no telling where your enemies would attack, so be on guard all the time."

"Commander?" everyone's attention drawled upon Hibiki who raised her hand getting the admiral's attention.

"What is it Hibiki?" he asked the Akatsuki class Destroyer.

"Are we ready to be sent on that mission you told us about?" upon asking that question, Hibiki realized just how much of a weight that question is. Instantly, the atmosphere is tense and silent; the only sound that is audible is the sound of waves hitting and seabirds that are flying right above the base.

Naruto closed his eyes. This is not… how should he say this… this is probably not the perfect time discussing matters like this, but then again, he must send his girls out there. The attack on Britain is still commencing as of this day, he heard the news that Germany is sending support for Britain. France, Italy and Switzerland are participating too… but what he doesn't know is the information whether the Ship Girls will be used on the op or not. Germany, Italy, and France have their own Ship Girls unit so there won't be much problem. Switzerland does not have any Ship Girls, so they sent vessels instead. He is sure that those support are more than enough to push back the attackers on England.

But now, back to Hibiki's question… are his girls ready to be sent out there on the mission? To be frank, they're not. They are by no means ready to encounter a real life op on flaming seas… they might have done well on little skirmishes and patrol, but a war is something they're not ready for. Also, his unit lacks the commended firepower. He really needs that okay from HQ for the construction of more Ship Girls…

Constructing Ship Girls isn't that easy… since he is the only serving Admiral who is responsible for these Ship Girls, he need to get the okay or permission from HQ. HQ will only give him the okay when they are done discussing it with the United Naval Alliance. He sent the request for more Ship Girls construction, but HQ has yet to give him the permission he needed. He has the resources and he definitely has more to maintain a balanced fleet.

Opening his eyes, Naruto's blue eyes stared upon Hibiki's. "To be honest…" he started. "you girls are not ready yet." At hearing this, the girls tensed. "While you girls are showing extraordinary performance on friendly waters… you girls are not ready to be facing the enemies in a real war just yet."

Tenryuu, hearing this, can't help but burst. "But we are made for fighting, yeah? We are meant to be out there." Tenryuu expected the admiral to act upon hearing her say that. But what she did not expect is for a feeling of intense dread hitting her straight in the face. She looked at her CO's face; something that she has never seen him make before.

"**Don't you dare."** His words are like heavy dread. "Don't you dare tell me that you girls are meant only for fighting. Don't you dare tell me that you are only a weapon." His narrowed, chilly icy blue eyes pierced right through air at that very moment. "You girls are not ready. And that is final. Remember, in a war, we are not bragging. We are there to get ourselves dirty in order for the wellbeing of others. And while we are busy getting ourselves dirty, we might just sink deeper into the dirt; deeper than comfort." Steel like voice he gave them. "You girls haven't seen what happened to newly modeled ships which got sent to war with the hopes of bringing their country further into the tides of war…"

"They sink right before they could even reach the trench." He revealed sharply. "It might be easier to think of sailing at sea… but even the slightest bit of mistake could lead to you girls sinking." He said. "I am not saying this because I do not want you girls to know the cruel and destructed world we are living in now. I am saying this because I want you girls to **understand** just how cruel and destructed this world we are living in today. We die every day, be it human, ship girls or even them." By 'them', he is referring to the enemy.

Walking forward, he knelt down to the white hair Destroyer's level. From Hibiki's view, she is staring unto a face that has seen misery in physical form himself. She's seeing the face of someone who had sacrificed all for the greater good. She is seeing the face of someone who had lost everything in gain of nothing. Hibiki never knew that a human could make a face like that…

Naruto rests a palm on top of Hibiki's covered head. "The thing is Hibiki; be patient. The time for you girls to sail out there isn't now." Shaking his head, he said so solemnly. "I promise you, both as a man and your admiral, that you girls will be strong enough to bring Japan up there at the top. I will give you girls a taste of sweet, and glorious victory." His voice grew raspier as he speaks, almost as if he does not want to tell them about what he's about to say. "But at the same time… I will be giving you girls a ticket to a life that you wish you never wanted. Remember, you girls are fated to live this life… but you girls have the choice whether you want to live this hell guaranteed life."

He paused from his long speech; gazing deep into Hibiki's eyes. "Do you understand, Hibiki?" he asked softly.

The white haired hat wearing Destroyer, nodded. "I do."

A small smile appeared on the admiral's face. "Good." He pushes himself up with the support of his hands and knees. "Okaaaay, now that you girls are done with your spar, it's time for you girls to hit the dock! Remember, don't stay any longer than what you needed too, always clean up after you're done and most importantly… don't bent if you dropped the soap." He said that last piece with a serious tone. "Well, aside from that, ya'll dismissed for the day~!" he said cheerfully, before running off towards his office.

Hibiki listened as the others began making their way for the dock. She stays there, standing at her spot.

'_We die every day, be it human, ship girls or even them.'_

She gripped her chest, right where her supposed core is at. What is this aching feeling… this feeling of knowing that you might have done the most stupid action ever in your life?

* * *

><p>"Haaah… that girl… I never expect her to ask that question."<p>

From his seat, Naruto could only see the sight of his office door and office interior. It's still morning, seeing as he had just finished instructing the morning training. Groaning wordlessly, he slumps his head into the desk's wooden surface; feeling the cold yet smooth surface on his forehead. Just what is he now… is he even worthy of saying what he said to Hibiki a moment ago? Is he even qualified on leading those girls to greatness?

Rising his head slightly, he could see a small frame from the corner of his vision. His heart ache. It aches badly. The picture on the frame hurts him more than a volley of missiles from a fighter jet. Because what could damage body, could not ruin the mind and heart. **(1) **

"Hinata… what should I do…?" it was a question that he asked himself every time, while shedding a lone unrequited tear.

The picture of a smiling man and woman is directed at him, showing him the source of his pain and misery at the same time.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'M BAAAAAAAACK! Well, that wasn't necessary seeing that I wasn't away for that long. Anyway, I've finished my exams and I'm back writing stories for ya'll to read. Anyway, here's the deal:**

**(1): In Japanese, the Heart and Mind are written by the same character. You all should be aware of this by now, even if you're not familiar with Kancolle. **

**Anyway, on a side note, to those of you who are following me from the bottom of my heart—meaning that you will still read my stories regardless of what fanbase they represent—I am releasing a new, surprise, crossover. Again, I am self proclaiming myself to be the author who brings the most unexpected Crossovers (Naruto only) to fanfiction. But hey, Touhou is an exception because come on; what series that is impossible to be crossover'd with 2Hu? **

**Well, that's it for today's dilly and I'll see ya'll next time.**

**Have a good day/night! **


	5. Chapter 5

It was a beautiful morning in the South-Pacific naval base. The sea birds flew across the base's and island perimeter as if it's their morning routine, the sound of waves hitting the port's dock and the smell of the sea itself is still tangible for people to smell. Over all, it might seem that today is the perfect morning for the people who are working at this base. Of course… every morning's got to start special, and by special; it went a something like this…

"We are getting a new ship girl."

Those seven words brought mixed reactions from each of the ship girls inside his office. Choukai and Maya are fairly surprised. Tenryuu looks excited, while her sister managed to keep herself controlled. The four Destroyers, however, are not so subtle when it comes to surprises. Akatsuki is interested, Ikazuchi seems keen on finding out who the newcomer is, Inazuma is conflicted on whether she'll become friends with the transferee and Hibiki is stoic as usual, but a slight interested gleam is visible upon the surface of her eyes.

The blonde admiral stared at each girls' face one by one, taking in their response of the sudden news. He has to admit it, this is pretty sudden, and even he himself is surprised to hear it. The constructions of these ship girls are not simple; many permission and other sorts of circumstances must be fulfilled. He has fulfilled the requirements of being permitted to request for the constructions of these ship girls; aside from the fact that he is the only admiral in Japan who is permitted to command over these girls.

HQ sent their okay a few days back. He requested for a battleship since it will be really helpful for this base to have an upgrade on firepower. Aside from constructions, the research team has also started on doing an upgrade on the equipment. Things are advancing for the better; and he tend to keep it this way.

"Eh, really? Who is it? Who is it?" Ikazuchi persist on knowing due to her cheerful nature.

"Ufufu… whoever she is, she won't stand a chance against the awesome and fearsome Tenryuu-sama." Yeah just keep on dreaming you chuni… was the thought that ran through Naruto's head.

Shaking his head, Naruto sighed. "As for who she is… that is a…" everyone leans in, wanting to hear the identity of the coming ship girl. "secret!~" and everyone ends up on the floor. Naruto chuckled heartily, he loved ruining the glorious moments. "But in all seriousness, I want you girls to know about this because I want you girls to be nice and get to know her well. We don't know how she'll act, but I still want you girls to be become friendly with her regardless. Is that understood?"

"Sir yes sir!" everyone responded in reply.

Nodding satisfyingly, Naruto smiled. "Good, good. I know that you girls are dependable." Saying that with a smile caused most of the ship girls to emit their own different reactions. "Whoa! H-Hey, stop that!" out of a sudden, one of the Destroyer class lunged at him with surprising speed.

Nuzzled to his chest, Ikazuchi did not pay attention to her commander's words. Instead, she's clinging even harder and stronger. "Am I dependable, commander? Am I? Am I?" she questions, her voice muffled by Naruto's clothes.

Before Naruto could even respond, he felt a pair of arms wrapping themselves onto his right arm. Slowly turning his head, he's looking face to face with a pouting Akatsuki. Said Destroyer classed ship girl looked away, an adorable pink hue on her face. "H-Hmph! If Ikazuchi has no problem of being praised then I suppose I should be too…"

Again, before the blonde could have a say in any of this, he finds his other hand restricted by a similar body frame as these two. "U-Um… if, if commander doesn't mind… then, Inazuma would like to be praised too!" the girl said out bashfully, her face red and eyes closed. It must've taken a lot of courage for her to be saying those lines alone.

Finally, Hibiki dropped the bomb. She somehow managed to climb on his back, taking her place above her sisters; sitting on Naruto's shoulder, hugging the blonde's head close to her. Though her stoic façade remains, it is safe to say that she felt pride swelling up in her. "…Commander. Is Hibiki dependable?"

Troubled and not sure on what to do at a situation like this, Naruto was about to speak when he heard the remaining two pairs of sisters conversing amongst each other. Tenryuu, Tatsuta, Maya and Choukai are not so subtle when it comes to gossiping on others.

"Look at him, I bet the bastard's enjoying it."

"Ara… what's the matter Tenryuu-chan, you jealous?"

"Nee-san… is the admiral a…?"

"A lolicon? You just knew that? I mean, isn't he one to begin with?"

Those last lines are like the equivalent of getting three torpedoes rammed to his big yet fragile heart. "Oi, you four could at least try better when you're talking over my back!" the commander shouted with waterfall like tears. He found the tugging on his hands, chest and the pressure applied on his head getting stronger. "Okay, okay, okay! You girls are good, you girls are dependable, whatever! Now, could you please let me go?" he asked, finally.

.

.

.

"…Dammit." Naruto gave up. If he could facepalm right now, he'll sure as hell do it. "Just…just make sure that you girls dismiss yourselves when you're done with whatever it is you're doing." He glared over to the taller ship girls. "And as for you four, dismiss yourselves. I really don't want to be chasing you girls around in the morning with paintballs. Unless you want m—SO FAST!" unable to finish his words, he shouted in outrage when four of them dashed out of the room.

Sighing heavily, he made an effort to sit on his chair still with the four Akatsuki class Destroyers clinging to his limbs. Now that he's sitting, Ikazuchi is more than happy to be sitting on his laps while facing him. The smile on her face could literally break the sun, should it be any wider… on second thought, she should be breaking her face first then the sun. Akatsuki and Inazuma are content with having Naruto's arm to cling to, while Hibiki is satisfied with having the head.

The white haired Destroyer's hand brushed over the admiral's wild and unkempt hair, feeling the soft and tingling sensation. She's surprised. She never knew that a man's hair could be this soft. And the smell… he smelt of oranges. What a nice shampoo…

"Ah! Hibiki is getting intimate with the commander!"

"T-That's not allowed Hibiki-chan!"

"W-Wha! Such acts are…!"

"Aren't you all doing the same thing here…" the blonde admiral muttered dryly. Sighing he resigned himself to fatigue. "Now that you all have gotten your praises, can't you girls let go? I need to do the papers for the transferee, if I don't finish it by the end of the day, then I'm afraid I can't be out of the office any time soon." He tried reasoning with the girls.

Ikazuchi made a thoughtful look, still clinging to him. "Then… if we were to be inside the commander's office every time, it will be fine right!" her eyes sparkled, reaching a conclusion.

"Wait, no, dammit. Listen to me—"

"Hm. That's right, isn't it good, Akatsuki?"

"A-A lady could've thought of a better conclusion but… that is acceptable."

"I-Is that fine with you, commander?" From her position, Inazuma glanced upwards looking at her commander's face with an expression that could be called… hopeful. On the blonde's part, he's conflicted on whether to say 'no' or 'yes'. Saying either is hard enough when Inazuma is making that kind of expression; how could he say no to a face like _that_?! That's impossible.

"E-Eh…" the blonde muttered, not sure on how to answer. He could say yes and let these girls come out of here happy, but he'll be spending the rest of his time in this base with these girls inside his office. The thought is good, but it would make work a lot slower. Or he could say no and let these girls come out of here sad, not visiting this office whenever they want. The thought might seem harsh, but it would certainly allow him to work faster. Choices… why must thou exist? Closing his eyes, he begins thinking of a better solution.

"Eh… okay, how about this." His thinking ended. Opening his eyes to reveal those beautiful pair of azure like orbs of his, he raised a finger from his place. "You girls can spend your time here, but you must not be too noisy, okay?"

At hearing their commander's answer, all four looked pleased.

"Hai!"

…these girls are going to be the death of him…

* * *

><p><strong>Lunch time...<strong>

* * *

><p>"Itadakimasu." Muttering lightly and quickly, Naruto is keen on devouring the ramen he has in front of him. This base serves ramen, believe it or not. While it's not as good as the ones made in Yokosuka, it's decent. Yokosuka is also famous for their burgers… not that he don't like them but they are a little bit too juicy for his preference. And he prefers eating Japanese food instead of western food due to him being exposed to the oriental diet ever since a young age.<p>

His finger swiftly breaks apart the chopsticks, separating them. Without delay, he dips the chopsticks into the broth; lifting up strands of noodles with it. "Hmm… this is…meh, it's fine." The flavor's not that strong… yet it's not too light either. It's lacking something, yet he can't figure out what it is. Perhaps the ingredients… the flavoring's okay though, maybe he should add some more pepper.

About to do just that, he was interrupted by the beeping sound of his terminal. The tablet like screen is beeping blue, which means that he has an important notification sent in. Pausing on his eating, Naruto tapped a few times on the tablet's screen; getting it to unlock. Upon being unlocked, a small white window pops up with writings. Skimming through them, a small smile donned his face when he's finished reading.

"Heeh… never knew that the asshole would be the one sending me this message privately… bet the HQ need to do a lot of convincing." The blonde haired admiral muttered with a hearty chuckle. His blue eyes flickered to the next window that pops up, this time another message. This time, he's confused. "What's this?... a _'notice for all admirals'_…? Is this a broadcast?" he tapped on it for the second time, reading the full message.

Like an eagle snatching a swimming salmon out from the river, Naruto retracted his back when he felt a jolting sensation on his hip. "GAH!" He screamed, jumping out from his seat. The sound of giggling reached his ears, causing him to turn his head to the culprit. "Ikazuchi… what do you want? Can't you see I'm eating?"

The most energetic out of the Akatsuki class giggled louder into her sleeves. "Hehe… how can you eat when you're looking at your terminal at the same time, commander? It's bad manners you know and being an admiral, you need to show a better examples for your ship girls." Ikazuchi reminded him like one would find a mother talking to her child.

Blinking repeatedly, the blonde haired admiral sighed while placing down his terminal. He let a small smile appear on his face. "Okay, okay. I'll read it later. So, what are you doing here? Where's the rest of your sisters?" he asked. It's rare to see the 6th DesDiv separated, and not only that, Ikazuchi doesn't strike him as a person who would go anywhere far from her sister.

Ikazuchi simply smile playfully. "Hehe, they're still docking, Akatsuki-chan says that she wants to try on a new shampoo and she has Hibiki-chan and Inazuma-chan with her." replied the Destroyer class ship girl to the admiral.

"Really? How… childlike of her."

Giggling, Ikazuchi took her place beside him. "Now, now… Akatsuki-chan will cry if she hears that, you know?" being forward, Ikazuchi grabs and latches herself on to Naruto's arm, nuzzling her cheeks to his sleeves. "Even if Akatsuki-chan's like that, she's still the oldest out of the four of us. So, we see her as our sister."

"How simplistic…" the admiral grumbled. "Anyway, let of my arm. I can't eat like this…" he tried to force his arm out from the little Destroyer's grip but was surprised to find himself unable to do anything. Ikazuchi is rendering his right arm useless due to the grip she's applying on it… these ship girls are really strong… "Come on Ikazuchi… my ramen will get cold if this continues." He pleads to the brown haired Destroyer.

"Then…" Ikazuchi leaned forward to grab Naruto's chopsticks, grabbing it along with a few strands of noodles. "I'll feed you!" she declares happily, a bright grin on her face. She leaned towards Naruto, noodles ready. "Say aahn~" she closes in towards his lips—the chopsticks.

Seeing that he got no other choice other than to play this game, he surrendered. Sighing, he decided that he'll let this to continue."Okay, okay. Aaahn~" the noodles entered his mouth, and he begins chewing before swallowing it down his gullet.

"One more time, say aahn~" after grabbing more strand of noodles from the bowl, Ikazuchi drew in the chopsticks closer to her commander's mouth. She mimicked what she saw on those drama series she watched last night at her room along with Tatsuta and the others.

"Aahn~"

They continue this kind of pattern until the ramen bowl is half full. Naruto, despite knowing how embarrassing the situation is, has to admit that it's nice to bond over ramen. One, he gets to eat ramen and two, he gets to know his ship girls well! It's a win-win situation in more than one ways. Suddenly, noodles stopped coming into his mouth. Wondering the sudden halt, Naruto blinked.

"What's wrong, Ikazuchi?" he asked the brown haired Destroyer.

He was surprised to see her pouting while looking away from him."Muu… it's unfair that commander is the only one who gets to eat. I'm hungry too you know."

Looking puzzled, Naruto is seriously confused with this girl's attitude. "Then grab a bite for yourself. Here." He offered her the chopsticks he's holding in his hand. However, the girl has yet to take said utensil from him. "What?" how stupid of him, of course she wants a new pair. He just used this for God's sake. "Okay, I'll go grab a new set for you." As he was about to reach over to grab a new pair of chopsticks, he felt a pair of small arms pulling him by the sleeves.

"No, no!" Ikazuchi started to shake her head in disapproval. Naruto, confused and clueless, could not make up of anything. Ikazuchi sighed in a disappointed manner at her commander. "Commander, you lack delicacy. A man should feed a lady at this kind of situation you know?... At least that's what Akatsuki-chan said."

"Aha…" Naruto chuckled before sighing. "Your sister really needs to stop teaching you weird things. But if you want me to feed you… okay, here." He lifted the chopsticks, taking a few strand of noodles with it. "Make sure you blow it properly first, it's hot." He warned.

"Then, you blow it for me commander?"

Sighing, Naruto really can't help it. "You know, you really are spoiled. That is not a good attitude you know?" after saying that, he blow on the noodles anyway. "There, now open your mouth."

"Aaah~"

"There we go." As soon as the chopsticks entered Ikazuchi's mouth, a feeling alien to Naruto began to pulse in his chest. Using his free hand, he clutched his chest. 'What the… I feel like I'm doing something wrong right now…' he thought bitterly. "A-Anyway, here. The soup." He scooped the ramen's broth onto the spoon, blowing on it to cool it down slightly before feeding it to Ikazuchi again.

The little Destroyer looked happy now that she's gotten what she wanted. "Uhm! It's delicious!"

"Yeah, yeah. Then go and get one yourself, I want to eat too you know."

All of the sudden, the sound of the metallic door banging open was heard throughout the vicinity. Surprised by the sudden sound, Naruto and Ikazuchi immediately turned their heads toward the source of the noise. The two were greeted by the sight of a blushing Akatsuki, a teary eyed Inazuma, a… eh… Hibiki, a Tenryuu who looks like she's mad for some reason, an irritated Maya and a giggling pair of Choukai and Tatsuta. The first one out of the six ship girls to react first was, of course, Tenryuu. She started off by pointing a shaky finger at the blonde admiral who was confused as to why she would do that. Ikazuchi too shares the same feeling as her commander.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You two…! You-You two are feeding each other!" Tenryuu shouted as if it's the most heretical thing there is in the earth. Her face is red, a mixture of embarrassment, anger and irritation combined. "That's wrong! T-T-T-T-That's illegal, immoral, dirty, you rapist!"

"THAT LAST ONE WAS UNNECESSARY!" panting from his outburst, Naruto quickly reestablished his raging emotion in a form of a sigh. He seemed to be doing a lot of those recently. "Just… what are you all doing there? And did you all just stand there from the beginning?"

Thankfully for him, Tatsuta is very different from her sister. "Ufufu, we have commander. But I must say… I never know that you're so daring." She gave him a small and quick if not teasing wink.

Naruto groaned at the tease. "Not you too Tatsuta." He shook his head in exasperation before returning his focus to Ikazuchi. "You said that your sisters and the others are still in the baths?"

"Hehe…" Ikazuchi bit her puckered tongue out while tapping her head with her own knuckles.

"You bugger."

"Ahem." The sound of throat being cleared can be traced back to Akatsuki. She, with her face still sporting a healthy shade of pink, pointed her finger at the commander. "W-What have you been doing commander!? I-I can't believe that you are sharing your food with Ikazuchi-chan! That's! that's…!"

"Unfair?" surprisingly, it was Hibiki who provided the word.

"Yeah, unfair!" Akatsuki pointed out with the help of her sister. "You're supposed to be a commander, you're supposed to treat all of us the same way!" with a hint of redness on her cheeks, Akatsuki took her 'I'm a respectful lady' pose. "T-Then it would only be right if you were to do the same to me."

'_She just wanted to be fed…'_ was the thought that went by everyone's head.

Naruto, seeing that there is indeed a point to her statement, could not do anything other than to correct his action. "Fine," he stood from his chair, bringing his ramen bowl with him. "Here, aahn." He shoved the chopsticks carrying the strand of noodles into the eldest Akatsuki-class Destroyer's mouth while speaking monotonously. "There, happy?"

….and she cried. Akatsuki actually cried.

* * *

><p><strong>Later…<strong>

* * *

><p>"Haaah… things are just complicated sometimes."<p>

"Ufufu, isn't that right?"

"Yup, you're totall—HOLY LOG!" Naruto screamed out in surprise. Tatsuta, who was currently giggling to herself at her commander's reaction, found it amusing to know that her commander could so cute when scared. With his hand on his chest, Naruto breathed in relief. "Holy… you could've given me a heart attack you know? Geez… next time, approaching from the back is forbidden."

Tatsuta gave the blonde haired admiral a mock salute. "Duly noted, sir."

"Cheeky… anyway, I take it that you are here to discuss something with me?" if she's here for a talk, then it's better to get it over with quicker. He still got papers to finish… but still, it's pretty rare for someone like Tatsuta to just come and approach him like this; if his memory served him right, he didn't interact with her as much as he did with the others.

A pleasant smile was spread across the Light Cruiser's face. That smile of her did not ease him one bit… "Very well, I will not beat around the bush then." For once, Tatsuta is showing a rather formal expression. "This naval base is, to be blunt, chaotic."

"That was mighty blunt indeed…." Naruto muttered out as if he'd been struck by a twenty tons anchor.

"Do you prefer me to not be blunt then? If so, then this naval base could use a better chain of command other than the one that we have now."

"No, that just doubles the damage. Please do be blunt."

"Okay." Tatsuta nodded. "From what I have been observing, I think that it is best if we were to set up a few… rules. New rules. For once, I saw that the Destroyers were always playing around the hallways down at the east wing of the main building and it's causing trouble for us who are on cleaning duty." She stated. "Second, there must be a restriction of areas around the island that are authorized for certain personnel only. I asked one of the technicians what were they doing in the main courtyard, they said that they were taking a break just like usual. I find it rather strange for technicians to be taking breaks in a courtyard instead of the mess hall or their respective quarters. These are a few observations that I've gathered, and I request if we fix them."

Naruto's eyes were observing Tatsuta this entire time. From the moment she quietly entered the room. He's just playing dumb to not notice her, simply because he's curious on what her intentions were. This woman—ship girl, is definitely the perfect secretary material. Not only she's noticed the things that he'd noticed, but she's also able to say them directly into his face. She's smart, sharp and initiative.

"I see. Then I will deal with those as I discuss it with the rest of the staff, it's better to let all of them know about our situation here." Naruto decided. "But I must say Tatsuta, I'm surprised that you are… so initiative on finding all of this on your own. Tell me, were you just doing your job or is it because you want something?"

There was silence. But it was not the one that hinted doubt or hesitation. It's the kind of silence that hinted a smart decision. Tatsuta is observant; he'd figured that out earlier. And from the way she's keeping up her silence, he could exactly guess that she's thinking on how to word out her answer to him.

"Of course, don't be afraid to speak your mind." With the only thing keeping her from speaking out of the way, Tatsuta is now able to give him an answer.

And when she answered, boy did it surprise him.

"It's because I want to do something for all of us." The short haired CL answered softly. Naruto had to raise an eyebrow at the tone she's used. Because, for him, it didn't seems like Tatsuta is joking or playing around. What he's seeing now is not the usual level headed sister of Tenryuu. He's seeing an initiative and dependable ship girl who's ready to help in a way that others can't. In what way exactly?

By becoming his secretary.

* * *

><p><strong>Later, after a few more talks…<strong>

* * *

><p>"Tatsuta, have you finished with the survey already?"<p>

"Ah, I was just about to get that done commander. The tech team has filed up a complaint saying that they need better equipments than the one they have now. When asked, they reported that the old ones aren't functioning well. They did not write a specific name of equipment…. But it's hinted here that most of equipments that need replacing are the important ones."

"Hm… that is indeed urgent. Very well, I'll send a report back to HQ about the matter. Ah, it's already four now. You can go and have your break Tatsuta, I'll deal with the rest."

"Hai."

Tatsuta really proved to be a good secretary. Naruto himself did not know if the development and research team programmed her to be that way or is it a result of her own will. Either way, it's nice now that he had someone to help him with the paper works. He enjoyed those days where he's still in his office alone, filling in files all by himself… but it's nice to have someone to share the burden with. What makes it even more relieving is that Tatsuta volunteered herself into this position; so he won't have to feel bad about dragging her up into this. Of course, that also means that she could drop the position if she felt like stopping but he understands.

The second Tenryuu-class Light Cruiser frowned slightly when she saw the piling papers rested on her commander's desk. It had been about three hours ever since they start doing the paper works; yet the work hadn't gone down even a bit. Both she and the commander were tired, but she had to say that her commander is even more worn out due to the past efforts he put into the work. Aside from doing menial tasks such as this, he was also responsible for the fleet. Meaning that he must plan training regimes, manage resources rate… and even if he had to do all of that, she never saw him getting tired.

"I could stay longer to help if you want to commander…"

Naruto's smile and his wave of hand reassured her that he is fine. "It's okay, I took much of your time already. Go have a break, and then you can return." There's really no need on keeping Tatsuta here for more work, actually. Since most of the documents he had now are only officer authorized files. But if Tatsuta wanted to help, who is he to reject her willingness to help?

"If you say so, commander. Then, I'll take my leave."

"Okay."

As Tatsuta exited the door, Naruto released yet another sigh that day. He'd been doing too much of that lately, and he got an idea that it's not exactly healthy. Making a wistful expression, he opened the drawer to his desk, taking out a small rectangular frame. The smile that appeared on his face is… faraway, almost as if he's trying to deliver it to someone who is now gone from the surface of this earth.

Hinata…

His heart tightened even as he whispered that name from the bottom of his heart; the sense of guilt that's spreading over him is just too much for him to bear. He could never forgive himself what has happened… but he needs to, because that is what she wanted. She would never want him to wallow in self pity; perhaps that is one of her troublesome nature. But in all of that, she loves him. She loves him even if were to be sunk out there at the sea… it was her last words, after all.

'I love you.'

Those three simple words, a mixture between two subjects and a verb… that is alone to make his heat felt like a screw being twisted and wrenched by a screwdriver. Hinata was always a quiet girl… but only with him was when she laughed, cried and even got angry. He loved her with all his heart, even now, he still loves her. There's none that could replace her, not even if God Himself decided to give him another partner…

He held the picture close to his chest, eyes closed to fight back the tears that were threatening to escape. "Hinata…" he whispered, wishing from the bottom of his heart that he would hear her soft and tender voice in reply to his. "Hinata…" he tried again, wishing harder. "Hinata…" the third time.

Still… he knew that it's impossible. There's no hiding how much he missed his late partner, his lover… no matter how much of a tough front he put up; there will always be a crack on his mask whenever Hinata is involved. He placed the picture back inside his drawers, securing it safely. He opened his eyes; those eyes that were full of sadness are now replaced with determination and raw spirit.

"Those guys who attacked Britain will pay… they will."

He swore to his ancestor's name that he will make them pay, he will. What he'd done years ago, an action that gave him his very own title, wasn't enough. It was not enough to avenge for Hinata's death. Normally, he would be not to keen on seeing himself acting like this. But if he didn't let this part of him out for even a second, things will only get worse. The UAFWD will pay dearly after what they had done to the world; to Hinata; to him. They will pay…

.

.

.

But first, he had a transferee to welcome.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ta da da dah! Who is the ship girl that will be transferred to Naruto's base?! A clue: she's a battleship. And your first guess will probably be right… depending on how sharp you are. Anyway, that's it for this chapter; it's a somewhat semi-filler if I have to say so myself… anyway, things will get serious from now on, meaning that there will be less humor and bastarduous—yes, I just said that—antics from our admiral. Sorry if it's kind of short, though.**

**I've been getting reviews saying that this should be a fic where Naruto spends most of his time in his base with his ship girls; but I'm sorry to say that that was never my intention all along. The story's title alone does not strike this as your typical slice of life or everyday life genre… while it may seem like that in the first place, but I shall say from now that it's not a slice of life story. **

**I guess that's all that I have to say. Then, have a good day/night!**


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